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MAR  1  2  1928 
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, 


s  n 
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OCT  1  4  1943 

rOCT  1     194: 
HOV  1  3  19*^ 
JAN  2  7  15W 
JUN  6 

Form  L-9-15fti-10,'25 


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8. 

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OCT  2 1 1963 


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RECEIVED 
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MA/ 14  1965 


PM 
1O 


789 


PARKMAN 


PROSE  PASSAGES   FROM  THE  WORKS 


OF 


FOR    HOMES,   LIBRARIES,   AND    SCHOOLS 
COMPILED   BY 

JOSEPHINE   E.  HODGDON 


WITH     ILLUSTRATIONS 


47285 

BOSTON 

LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY 
1893 


Copyright,  1892, 
BY  LITTLE,  BROWN,  AND  COMPANY. 


2135 


JOHN  WILSON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE 


03  O 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION vii 

INTRODUCTORY  SKETCH  :   FRANCIS  PARKMAN    ...  1 

WINTER  LIFE  AT  PORT  ROYAL 9 

DOMINIQUE  DE  GOURGUES 21 

SUCCESS  OP  LA  SALLE 37 

CHARACTER  OF  LA  SALLE 47 

THE  SEARCH  FOR  THE  PACIFIC 51 

THE  PORTRAIT  OF  WOLFE 77. 

THE  HEIGHTS  OF  ABRAHAM 79 

RESULTS  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEARS  WAR 99 

THE  INDIAN  CHARACTER .  101 

DEATH  OF  PONTIAC 107 

THE  BLACK  HILLS  .  119 


INTRODUCTION. 


Consider  what  you  have  in  the  smallest  chosen  library.  A  com- 
pany of  the  wisest  and  wittiest  men  that  could  be  picked  out  of  all  civil 
countries,  in  a  thousand  years,  have  set  in  best  order  the  results  of  their 
learning  and  wisdom.  The  men  themselves  were  hid  and  inaccessible, 
solitary,  impatient  of  interruptions,  fenced  by  etiquette  ;  but  the  thought 
which  they  did  not  uncover  to  their  bosom  friend  is  here  written  out  in 
transparent  words  to  us,  the  strangers  of  another  age.  —  RALPH  WALDO 
EMERSON. 

How  can  our  young;  people  be  led  to  take  pleasure  in 
the  writings  of  our  best  authors  ?  An  attempt  to  answer 
this  important  inquiry  is  the  aim  of  these  Leaflets.  It  is 
proposed,  by  their  use  in  the  school  and  in  the  family,  to 
develop  a  love  for  the  beautiful  thoughts,  the  noble  and 
elevating  sentiments,  that  pervade  the  choicest  literature, 
and  thus  to  turn  aside  that  flood  of  pernicious  reading 
which  is  deluging  the  children  of  our  beloved  country. 
It  is  hoped  that  they  will  prove  effective  instruments  in 
securing  the  desired  end,  and  an  aid  in  the  attainment  of 
a  higher  mental  and  moral  culture. 

Our  best  writers,  intelligent  teachers,  and  lecturers  on 
literary  subjects  have  given  selections  and  material  for 
this  work,  and  rendered  its  realization  possible.  Those 
who,  knowing  the  power  of  a  good  thought  well  expressed, 
have  endeavored  to  popularize  works  of  acknowledged 


Vlll  INTRODUCTION. 

merit  by  means  of  copied  extracts,  marked  passages, 
leaves  torn  from  books,  and  other  expensive  and  time- 
consuming  expedients,  will  gladly  welcome  this  new, 
convenient,  and  inexpensive  arrangement  of  appropriate 
selections,  as  helps  to  the  progress  they  are  attempting 
to  secure.  This  plan  and  the  selections  used  are  the 
outgrowth  of  experience  in  the  schoolroom;  and  their 
utility  and  adaptation  to  the  proposed  aims  have  been 
proved. 

By  means  of  these  sheets  each  teacher  can  have  at 
command  a  larger  range  of  authors  than  is  otherwise 
possible.  A  few  suggestions  in  regard  to  these  Leaflets 
may  not  be  amiss. 

1.  They  may  be  used   for   reading  at  sight   and   for 
silent  reading. 

2.  They  may  be  employed  for  analysis  of  the  author's 
meaning  and  language,  which  may  well  be  made  a  promi- 
nent feature  of  the  reading-lesson,  as  it  is  the  best  prepa- 
ration for  the  proper  rendering  of  the  passages  given. 

8.  They  may  be  distributed,  and  each  pupil  allowed  to 
choose  his  own  favorite  selection.  These  may  afterwards 
be  used,  as  its  character  or  the  pupil's  inclination 
suggests,  for  sentiment,  for  an  essay,  for  reading,  reci- 
tation, or  declamation. 

4.  Mr.  Longfellow's  method  —  as  mentioned  in  the 
sketch  accompanying  his  poems,  in  this  series  of  Leaflets 
—  may  be  profitably  followed,  as  it  will  promote  a  helpful 
interplay  of  thought  between  teacher  and  pupils,  and 
lead  unconsciously  to  a  love  and  understanding  of  good 
authors. 


INTRODUCTION.  ix 

5.  Short  quotations  may  be   given   in  answer   to  the 
daily  roll-call. 

6.  Some  of   the  selections  are  adapted  to   responsive 
and  chorus  class-reading. 

7.  The  lyrical    poems  can  be  sung  to  some   familiar 
tunes. 

8.  The  sketch  which  will  be   found  with  each  series 
may  serve  as  the  foundation  for  essays  on  the  author's 
life  and  works. 

9.  The  illustrations  may  be  employed  as  subjects  for 
language  lessons,  thus  cultivating  the  powers  of  obser- 
vation and  expression. 

All  these  methods  combined  may  be  made  to  give 
pleasure  to  the  pupil's  friends,  and  to  entertain  them 
oftener  than  is  now  the  custom  This  will  create  at  the 
same  time  an  interest  in  the  school  and  a  sympathy  with 
the  author  whose  works  are  the  subjects  of  study. 

The  foregoing  is  by  no  means  a  necessary  order ;  and 
teachers  will  vary  from  it  as  their  own  appreciation  of 
the  intelligence  of  their  pupils  and  the  interest  of  the 
exercise  shall  suggest.  The  object  to  be  kept  in  view  is, 
pleasantly  to  introduce  the  works  of  our  best  authors  to 
LTowing  minds,  and  thus  to  develop  a  taste  for  the  best 
in  literature,  so  that  the  world  of  books  may  become  an 
unfailing  source  of  inspiration  and  delight. 


FRANCIS    PARKMAN. 


IN  the  last  year  of  his  long  and  eventful  life,  the  illus- 
trious Warren  Hastings  loved  to  tell  of  the  bright 
summer  day  when,  as  an  orphan  of  seven  years,  meanly 
clad  and  scantily  fed,  he  lay  on  the  banks  of  a  rivulet 
which  flowed  through  his  ancestral  home,  and  there  re- 
volved plans  which  seemed  only  idle  dreams.  He  vowed 
that  he  would  one  day  recover  the  estate  which  had  be- 
longed to  his  ancient  and  illustrious  family,  and  had  been 
lost  through  deplorable  ill-fortune. 

Macaulay  tells  us  that  this  purpose  of  young  Hastings, 
formed  in  boyhood  and  poverty,  grew  stronger  as  his  in- 
tellect expanded  and  his  fortune  rose.  He  pursued  his 
plan  with  calm  but  indomitable  force  of  will.  Truth  is 
often  stranger  than  the  most  romantic  dreams  of  youth. 
The  slight,  feeble  man  who  ruled  fifty  millions  of  Asiatics 
with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  preserved  and  extended  an  empire 
for  England,  outlived  all  his  rivals  and  enemies,  and  died 
peacefully  at  Daylesford, —  his  ancestral  home,  —  at  the 
age  of  eighty-six.  He  not  only  had  retrieved  the  fallen 
fortunes  of  his  family,  but  had  made  for  himself  a  great 
name  in  English  annals. 

In  another  sphere  of  life-work,  this  year  has  seen  rea- 
lized, after  the  long  labor  of  half  a  century,  what  seemed 

i 


2  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

to  be  the  wild  fancy  and  project  of  a  boy.  Nearly  sixty 
years  ago  a  lad  who  lived  in  the  old  Bay  State  formed  the 
design  of  writing  the  history  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
French  domain  in  America.  The  older  he  grew,  the  more 
he  thought  about  it.  It  finally  became  the  aim  of  the  young 
man's  life  to  collect  material  and  to  prepare  himself  to 
write  the  history  of  the  efforts  of  France  to  occupy  and 
to  control  the  American  continent.  This  year,  1892,  the 
ambitious  lad,  grown  to  be  a  sedate  man  and  known  as 
Francis  Parkman,  —  one  of  the  foremost  of  living  histo- 
rians,—  has  lived  to  see  the  fulfilment  of  his  boyhood 
dream  and  the  completion  of  his  life-work.  This  series 
of  great  historical  pictures  is  now  finished  by  the  recent 
publication  of  "  A  Half  Century  of  Conflict."  This  work 
is  in  two  volumes,  and  covers  the  first  half  of  the  eigh- 
teenth century,  following  "Count  Frontonac,"  and  preced- 
ing "  Montcalm  and  Wolfe."  It  is  nearly  half  a  century 
ago  since  Mr.  Parkman  began  his  great  literary  undertak- 
ing. The  twelve  volumes  form  a  series  of  the  gravest  and 
most  romantic  historical  value,  accomplished  under  diffi- 
culties which  no  one  but  a  student  whose  heart  was  wholly 
in  a  work  for  which  he  is  specially  competent  could  have 
conquered. 

FRANCIS  PARKMAN  was  born  in  Boston,  Sept.  16,  1828. 
His  father  was  an  eminent  Unitarian  clergyman.  During 
his  boyhood,  the  future  historian  spent  several  years  on 
his  grandfather's  farm  in  Middlesex  County.  There  were 
in  those  days  in  this  region  immense  tracts  of  dense 
forests.  The  boy  spent  much  of  his  time  in  rambles 
through  the  woods.  It  was  in  this  fascinating  occupation 
that  he  began  to  be  inspired  with  that  love  for  the  forest 
and  the  frontier  which  became  the  passion  of  his  after 
life.  Young  Parkman  was  sent  to  Harvard  College  in 
1840,  and  graduated  in  1844.  His  love  for  life  in  the 
forest  grew  as  he  became  older.  His  long  summer  vaca- 


PARKMAN.  3 

tions  were  spent  in  the  forests  of  Canada  or  on  the  Great 
Lakes.  During  one  summer  he  passed  many  weeks  in  a 
boat  on  Lake  George,  and  there  became  familiar  with  that 
romantic  region,  so  memorable  in  the  French  and  Indian 
wars.  During  his  last  year  in  college  the  young  student 
travelled  in  Europe,  but  returned  in  time  to  graduate  with 
his  class.  For  a  graduation  theme  he  chose  as  his  topic, 
"The  French  and  Indian  War."  It  was  even  then  his 
favorite  subject. 

After  leaving  college,  Mr.  Parkman  found  himself  af- 
flicted with  a  painful  disease  of  the  eyes,  which  prevented 
him  from  doing  much  literary  work.  As  it  was  now  evi- 
dent that  he  would  not  be  able  to  collect  and  utilize  the 
vast  material  necessary  for  his  proposed  history,  he  con- 
cluded to  take  up  as  a  preliminary  work  the  history  of 
the  conspiracy  of  Pontiac.  To  study  the  Indian  life,  the 
future  historian  travelled  in  the  Far  West  and  lived  with 
the  Indians  themselves.  In  1846  he  went  to  the  then  re- 
mote regions  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  and  lived  for  some 
time  with  the  Dakota  Indians,  and  visited  still  wilder  and 
more  remote  tribes.  Thus  he  became  very  familiar  with 
the  manners,  customs,  and  traditions  of  these  children 
of  the  forest.  He  endured  many  privations  and  much 
suffering.  He  learned  much  of  savage  life,  but  he  paid 
a  dear  price  for  it.  Once  he  was  stricken  with  an  acute 
disease,  and,  T>efng  far  remote  from  medical  care,  his 
health  was  badly  undermined,  and  his  eyesight  still  more 
impaired.  To  the  hardships  and  privations  of  this  life 
among  the  Indians  must  be  attributed  much  of  the  ill 
health  from  which  Mr.  Parkman  has  suffered  for  many 
years.  On  his  return  home  he  wrote,  by  the  help  of  an 
amanuensis,  an  interesting  account  of  his  travels  and 
adventures.  This  work  was  published  in  1847  under  the 
title  of  "  The"  Oregon  Trail :  Sketches  of  Prairie  and 
Rocky  Mountain  Life." 


4  LEAFLETS   FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

Not  at  all  discouraged  by  the  magnitude  of  the  under- 
taking, the  young  historian,  with  shattered  health  and 
impaired  vision,  began  to  develop  the  idea  which  had  ab- 
sorbed his  best  thought  since  boyhood.  This  was,  as  we 
know,  to  write  the  history  of  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
French  dominion  on  this  continent.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  the  French  held  the  St.  Lawrence 
and  the  Mississippi, —  the  two  great  waterways  of  the 
continent.  They  controlled  most  of  the  Indian  tribes  by 
the  aid  of  traders  and  missionaries.  It  was  the  proud 
hope  of  the  French  to  establish  and  maintain  an  empire 
for  France  in  the  heart  of  North  America  larger  than 
France  itself.  The  long  and  bitter  struggle  for  supre- 
macy is  Mr.  Parkman's  subject.  Wolfe  took  Quebec, 
and  the  fate  of  Canada  was  sealed.  The  capture  of 
Montreal,  in  1760,  completed  the  conquest  of  Canada. 
By  the  treaty  of  1763,  France  finally  surrendered  all  its 
vast  possessions  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the  Gulf  to  the 
English,  except  a  district  around  New  Orleans.  The  end 
was  not  yet.  The  jealousy  and  rage  of  the  Western 
Indians  was  aroused  when  the  English  came  to  occupy 
the  old  French  forts.  A  great  conspiracy  was  formed  in 
1763,  under  the  head  of  Pontiac,  a  sagacious  chief  of  the 
Ottawa  tribe.  The  garrisons  were  surprised  and  mas- 
sacred ;  thousands  of  the  settlers  were  driven  from  their 
homes.  The  Indians  were  at  last  defeated  in  a  des- 
perate battle ;  Pontiac's  war,  as  it  was  called,  was 
brought  to  an  end,  and  the  wily  chieftain  himself  was 
soon  after  assassinated. 

Such  was  the  canvas  selected  by  Parkman  on  which 
to  portray  his  great  historical  scenes.  The^  historical 
field  thus  chosen  was  of  momentous  n 
senting  fts  it~did  l.thfi-political ^  destinyjofa  continent, 
was  a  history  replete  with  events  of  the  most  tragic  in- 
terest and  the  most  heroic  suffering.  Brave  men  and 


PARKMAN.  5 

saintly  women  endured  marvels  of  sufferings  and  vicis- 
situdes in  those  perilous  times.  The  interest  and  impor- 
tance of  great  public  events  were  only  surpassed  by  heroic 
deeds  and  thrilling  private  adventures.  The  picturesque 
and  romantic  aspect  of  the  contest  surpassed  in  vivid  in- 
terest anything  that  fiction  could  delineate. 

Mr.  Farkman  was  well  prepared  for  his  chosen  work. 
He  heartily  loved  his  subject.  He  had  diligently  col- 
lected and  sifted  the  material.  He  was  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  Indian  character.  He  knew  the  cus- 
toms of  many  of  their  tribes,  having  lived  with  them  and 
shared  their  privations.  He  was  familiar  with  the  routes 
and  exploits  .of  the  early  explorers,  and  the  heroic  labors 
of  the  Jesuit  missionaries. 

In  taking  up  the  various  subjects  of  his  great  historical 
series,  Mr.  Parkman  did  not  follow  the  chronological  or- 
der. The  first  work  of  the  series,  published  in  1851,  was 
"  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac  and  the  Indian  War  after 
the  Conquest  of  Canada,"  —  a  sequel,  in  point  of  time,  to 
"France  and  England  in  North  America."  This  work 
was  received  with  high  favor  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  great  historical  writer,  John  Piske,  tells  us  that 
"  Pontiac  "  is  "  one  of  the  most  brilliant  and  fascinating 
books  that  has  ever  been  written  by  any  historian  since 
the  days  of  Herodotus." 

JDji(tep-&frre<Qnnihonsive  title^of  "  France  and  England  jk^ 
in  North  America^  Mr.  PaTTonan  published  "The  Pio- 
neers of  France  in  the  New  World,"  in  1865;  "The 
Jesuits  in  North  America  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,"  in 
1867;  and  "La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  Great 
Wost,"  in  1869.  These  volumes  were  followed  by  "The 
Old  Regime  in  Canada,"  in  1874  ;  "  Count  Frontenac  and 
New  France  under  Louis  XTV."  in  1877  ;  "  Montcalm  and 
Wolfe,"  in  1884;  and  "A  Half  Century  of  Conflict,"  in 


6  LEAFLETS    FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

1892.  The  publication  of  the  last-named  work,  upon 
which  Mr.  Parkman  has  been  engaged  for  the  past  eight 
years,  makes  the  series  complete,  and  affords  a  continuous 
narrative  of  the  efforts  of  France  to  occupy  and  control 
this  continent.  "  The  series  has  been  retarded,"  says 
the  author  in  the  preface,  "•  by  difficulties  which  seemed 
insurmountable,  and  for  years  were  so  in  fact."  Each 
work  of  the  series  has  been  received  with  unqualified 
favor  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  No  historian 
of  our  times  has  received  higher  praise  than  Mr.  Parkman, 
—  praise  which  a  reading  of  his  works  amply  confirms. 

The  story  of  Prescott's  partial  blindness  has  always 
invested  him  and  his  writings  with  a  touching  interest. 
Such  a  misfortune  did  not  deter  a  man  of  wealth  and 
social  position  from  prolonged  and  profound  historical 
research.  We  are  told  that  the  scholarly  impulse  is  irre- 
sistible, and  the  literary  instinct  surmounts  appalling  ob- 
stacles. It  was  certainly  true  of  Mr.  Parkman  as  well  as 
of  Mr.  Prescott.  Inbp.th  instances  it  was  a  triumph  of 
character  which  arojises  our  admiration  quite  as  much  as 
the  skill  with  which  their  literary  labors  were  wrought  out. 
A  well-known  writer  in  a  sketch  of  Mr.  Parkman  says  : 

"  He  has  gathered  the  materials  for  his  works,  not  only 
by  personal  observation  of  the  scenes  of  his  history,  but 
by  costly  and  laborious  researches  in  the  manuscript 
archives  of  France  and  Canada.  The  difficulties  of  his 
task  would  have  been  immense  to  any  one,  even  with  per- 
fect health  and  the  use  of  all  his  bodily  faculties;  but 
during  the  greater  part  of  the  time  Mr.  Parkman  has 
been  an  invalid,  to  whom  mental  exertion  was  forbidden 
by  his  physicians,  and  whose  eyesight  was  so  seriously 
impaired  that  for  three  years  the  light  of  day  was  insup- 
portable, and  every  attempt  at  reading  or  writing  com- 
pletely debarred.  He  has  written  his  works  by  the  aid  of 
an  amanuensis,  and,  by  patience  and  energy  of  the  most 


PARKMAN.  7 

admirable  order,  has  overcome  obstacles  far  greater  than 
those  which  impeded  the  labors  of  the  historian  Prescott, 
whose  eyesight,  though  impaired,  was  still  serviceable  to 
him,  and  whose  bodily  health,  in  other  respects,  was 
better  than  that  of  most  literary  men."  ^- 

Mr.  Park  man  was  married  in  1850  to  a  daughter  of  Dr. 
Jacob  Bigelow,  a  celebrated  Boston  physician.  She  died 
a  few  years  later,  leaving  two  children.  Nearly  forty 
years  ago  Mr.  Parkman  bought  an  extensive  property  in 
Jamaica  Plain, —  a  beautiful  suburb  of  Boston, —  and  there 
has  spent  his  summers  ever  since.  Outside  of  his  literary 
work  his  one  absorbing  pursuit  is  the  study  of  horticul- 
ture. He  has  been  a  professor  at  the  Bussey  Institution, 
—  the  horticultural  school  connected  with  Harvard  College. 
In  1866  he  published  a  book  on  one  of  his  favorite  sub- 
jects, called  "  A  Book  of  Roses."  The  historian  has  de- 
voted much  study  to  the  hybridization  of  flowers.  One 
c*£"His  most  noted  floral  creations  is  named  for  him. 
What  a  source  of  health  and  happiness  must  it  be  to  one 
whose  unfailing  love  of  Nature  leads  him  to  take  up  and 
diligently  pursue  such  a  hobby  !  ' 

Mr.  Parkman's  winter  home,  and  where  he  does  most 
of  his  literary  work,  is  at  his  residence  on  Chestnut  Street, 
in  Boston.  It  is  in  this  congenial  home  that  the  historian 
may  be  found  every  winter  busy  in  his  library,  surrounded 
by  his  books  and  huge  volumes  of  manuscript  copies  of 
both  public  and  private  documents.  Most  men  of  ample 
means  and  feeble  health  are  little  inclined  to  devote  their 
lives  to  an  arduous  literary  occupation.  /Mr.  Parkman's 
life  shows  how  much  a  man  of  indomitable  will  and  am- 
bition may  do  for  himself  and  for  mankind,  "  retarded 
by  difficulties  which  seemed  insurmountable,  and  for 
years  were  so  in  fact."  * 

M r^Parkman  is  an  uncommonly  v'flnrn/a  f|nd  intercst- 
ing  writer.  His  style  is  full  of  strength  and  grace.  His 


8  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

pages^jglow  with  brilliant  descriptions,  romantic  adven- 
tures,  and  thrilling  incidents.  His  narratives  have  all 
the  animation,  variety,  and  fascination  of  one  of  Scott's 
novels.  One  secret  of  Parkman's  success  is  due,  per- 
haps, to  his  deep  sympathy  with  his  subject.  "  Each 
actor  in  the  scen£,"  savs  a  criticr  "  is  his  friend  or  foe  ; 
he  has  taken  musty  records,  skeletons  of  facts,  dry  bones 
of,  barest  history,  and  breathed  on  them  that  they_  might 
live."  His  histories  read  like  romances  of  a  high  order, 
and  yet  their  author  is  as  careful  of  truth  as  the  most 
prosaic  and  exact  chronicler  of  olden  times.  What  more 
gracious  tribute  could  Mr.  Parkman  have  to  his  success 
as  an  impartial  and  accurate  historian  than  that  every 
one  of  his  works  is  acknowledged  to  be  the  highest 
authority  on  the  subject  of  which  it  treats? 


WINTER  LIFE   AT  PORT  ROYAL. 


T  T  was  noon  on  the  twenty-seventh  when  the  "  Jonas  ' ' 
passed  the  rocky  gateway  of  Port  Royal  Basin,  and 
Lescarbot  gazed  with  delight  and  wonder  on  the  calm  ex- 
panse of  sunny  waters,  with  its  amphitheatre  of  woody 
hills,  wherein  he  saw  the  future  asylum  of  distressed 
merit  and  impoverished  industry.  Slowly,  before  a  favor- 
ing breeze,  they  held  their  course  towards  the  head  of 
the  harbor,  which  narrowed  as  they  advanced  ;  but  all 
was  solitude:  no  moving  sail,  no  sign  of  human  presence. 
At  length,  on  their  left,  nestling  in  deep  forests,  they  saw 
the 'wooden  walls  and  roofs  of  the  infant  colony.  Then 
appeared  a  birch  canoe  cautiously  coming  towards  them, 
guided  by  an  old  Indian.  Then  a  Frenchman,  arquebuse 
in  hand,  came  down  to  the  shore;  and  then,  from  the 
wooden  bastion,  sprang  the  smoke  of  a  saluting  shot. 
The  ship  replied  ;  the  trumpets  lent  their  voices  to  the 
din,  and  the  forests  and  the  hills  gave  back  unwonted 
echoes.  The  voyagers  landed,  and  found  the  colony  of 
Port  Royal  dwindled  to  two  solitary  Frenchmen. 

These  soon  told  their  story.  The  preceding  winter 
had  been  one  of  much  suffering,  though  by  no  means  the 
counterpart  of  the  woful  experience  of  St.  Croix.  But 
when  the  spring  had  passed,  the  summer  far  advanced, 
and  still  no  tidings  of  De  Monts  had  come,  Pontgravd 
grew  deeply  anxious.  To  maintain  themselves  without 
supplies  and  succor  was  impossible.  He  caused  two 


10         LEAFLETS  FROM  STANDARD  AUTHORS. 

small  vessels  to  be  built,  and  set  forth  in  search  of 
some  of  the  French  vessels  on  the  fishing  stations. 
This  was  but  twelve  days  before  the  arrival  of  the 
ship  "  Jonas."  Two  men  had  bravely  offered  them- 
selves to  stay  behind  and  guard  the  buildings,  guns, 
and  munitions,  and  an  old  Indian  chief  named  Mein- 
bertou  —  a  fast  friend  of  the  French,  and  still,  we  are 
told,  a  redoubted  warrior,  though  reputed  to  number 
more  than  a  hundred  years  —  proved  a  stanch  ally. 
When  the  ship  approached,  the  two  guardians  were  at 
dinner  in  their  room  at  the  fort.  Membertou,  always 
on  the  watch,  saw  the  advancing  sail,  and  shouting 
from  the  gate,  roused  them  from  their  repast.  In 
doubt  who  the  new-comers  might  be,  one  ran  to  the 
shore  with  his  gun,  while  the  other  repaired  to  the 
platform  where  four  cannon  were  mounted,  in  the  val- 
orous resolve  to  show  fight,  should  the  strangers  prove 
to  be  enemies.  Happily  this  redundancy  of  mettle 
proved  needless.  He  saw  the  white  flag  fluttering  at 
the  mast-head,  and  joyfully  fired  his  pieces  as  a 
salute. 

The  voyagers  landed  and  eagerly  surveyed  their  new 
home.  Some  wandered  through  the  buildings ;  some 
visited  the  cluster  of  Indian  wigwams  hard  by ;  some 
roamed  in  the  forest  and  over  the  meadows  that  bor- 
dered the  neighboring  river.  The  deserted  fort  now 
swarmed  with  life ;  and,  the  better  to  celebrate  their 
prosperous  arrival,  Poutrincourt  placed  a  hogshead  of 
wine  in  the  courtyard  at  the  discretion  of  his  followers, 
whose  hilarity  in  consequence  became  exuberant.  Nor 
was  it  diminished  when  Pontgrave*'s  vessels  were  seen 
entering  the  harbor.  A  boat,  sent  by  Poutrincourt,  more 
than  a  week  before,  to  explore  the  coasts,  had  met  them 
among  the  adjacent  islands,  and  they  had  joyfully  re- 
turned to  Port  Royal. 


PARKMAN.  11 

Pontgrave*,  however,  soon  sailed  for  France  in  the 
"  Jonas,"  hoping  on  his  way  to  seize  certain  contraband 
fur-traders  reported  to  be  at  Canseau  and  Cape  Breton. 
Poutrincourt  and  Champlain  set  forth  on  a  voyage  of  dis- 
covery, in  an  ill-built  vessel  of  eighteen  tons,  while  Les- 
carbot  remained  in  charge  of  Port  Royal.  They  had  little 
for  their  pains  but  danger,  hardship,  and  mishap.  The 
autumn  gales  cut  short  their  exploration ;  and,  after  ad- 
vancing as  far  as  the  neighborhood  of  Hyannis,  on  the 
southeast  coast  of  Massachusetts,  they  turned  back  some- 
what disgusted  with  their  errand.  Along  the  eastern 
verge  of  Cape  Cod  they  found  the  shore  thickly  studded 
with  the  wigwams  of  a  race  who  were  less  hunters  than 
tillers  of  the  soil.  At  Chatham  harbor  —  called  by 
them  Port  Fortune*,  —  five  of  the  company,  who,  contrary 
to  orders,  had  remained  on  shore  all  night,  were  assailed, 
as  they  slept  around  their  fire,  by  a  shower  of  arrows 
from  four  hundred  Indians.  Two  were  killed  outright, 
while  the  survivors  fled  for  their  boat,  bristled  like  por- 
cupines,—  a  scene  oddly  portrayed  by  the  untutored  pen- 
cil of  Champlain.  He,  with  Poutrincourt  and  eight  men, 
hearing  the  war-whoops  and  the  cries  for  aid,  sprang  up 
from  sleep,  snatched  their  weapons,  pulled  ashore  in  their 
shirts,  and  charged  the  yelling  multitude,  who  fled  be- 
fore their  spectral  assailants,  and  vanished  in  the  woods. 
"  Thus,"  observes  Lescarbot,  "  did  thirty-five  thousand 
Midianites  fly  before  Gideon  and  his  three  hundred." 
The  French  buried  their  dead  comrades  ;  but  as  they 
chanted  their  funeral  hymn,  the  Indians,  at  a  safe  dis- 
tance on  a  neighboring  hill,  were  dancing  in  glee  and 
triumph,  and  mocking  them  with  unseemly  gestures;  and 
no  sooner  had  the  party  re-embarked  than  they  dug  up 
the  dead  bodies,  burned  them,  and  arrayed  themselves 
in  their  shirts.  Little  pleased  with  the  country  or  its 
inhabitants,  the  voyagers  turned  their  prow  towards  Port 


12         LEAFLETS  FROM  STANDARD  AUTHORS. 

Royal.  Near  Mount  Desert,  on  a  stormy  night,  their  rudder 
broke,  and  they  had  a  hairbreadth  escape  from  destruction. 
The  chief  object  of  their  voyage,  —  that  of  discovering  a  site 
for  their  colony  under  a  more  southern  sky,  —  had  failed. 
Pontgravd's  son  had  his  hand  blown  off  by  the  bursting 
of  his  gun  ;  several  of  their  number  had  been  killed  ; 
others  were  sick  or  wounded  ;  and  thus,  on  the  four- 
teenth of  November,  with  somewhat  downcast  visages, 
they  guided  their  helpless  vessel  with  a  pair  of  oars  to 
the  landing  at  Port  Royal. 

"  I  will  not,"  says  Lescarbot,  "  compare  their  perils  to 
those  of  Ulysses,  nor  yet  of  ./Eneas,  lest  thereby  I  should 
sully  our  holy  enterprise  with  things  impure." 

He  and  his  followers  had  been  expecting  them  with 
great  anxiety.  His  alert  and  buoyant  spirit  had  con- 
ceived a  plan  for  enlivening  the  courage  of  the  company, 
a  little  dashed  of  late  with  misgivings  and  forebodings. 
Accordingly,  as  Poutrincourt,  Champlain,  and  their 
weather-beaten  crew  approached  the  wooden  gateway 
of  Port  Royal,  Neptune  issued  forth,  followed  by  his 
tritons,  who  greeted  the  voyagers  in  good  French  verse, 
written  in  all  haste  for  the  occasion  by  Lescarbot.  And 
as  they  entered,  they  beheld,  blazoned  over  the  arch,  the 
arms  of  France,  circled  with  laurels,  and  flanked  by  the 
scutcheons  of  De  Monts  and  Poutrincourt. 

The  ingenious  author  of  these  devices  had  busied  him- 
self, during  the  absence  of  his  associates,  in  more  serious 
labors  for  the  welfare  of  the  colony.  He  explored  the  low 
borders  of  the  river  Equille,  or  Annapolis.  Here,  in  the 
solitude,  he  saw  great  meadows,  where  the  moose,  with 
their  young,  were  grazing,  and  where  at  times  the  rank 
grass  was  beaten  to  a  pulp  by  the  trampling  of  their  hoofs. 
He  burned  the  grass,  and  sowed  crops  of  wheat,  rye,  and 
barley  in  its  stead.  He  made  gardens  near  the  fort, 
where,  in  his  zeal,  he  plied  the  hoe  with  his  own  hands, 


PARKMAN.  13 

late  into  the  moonlight  evenings.  The  priests,  of  whom  in 
the  outset  there  had  been  no  lack,  had  all  succumbed  to 
the  scurvy  at  St.  Croix ;  and  Lescarbot,  so  far  as  a  lay- 
man might,  essayed  to  supply  their  place,  reading  on 
Sundays  from  the  Scriptures,  and  adding  expositions  of 
his  own  after  a  fashion  which  may  cast  a  shade  of  doubt 
on  the  rigor  of  his  catholicity.  Of  an  evening,  when  not 
engrossed  with  his  garden,  he  was  reading  or  writing  in 
his  room,  perhaps  preparing  the  material  of  that  History 
of  New  France  in  which,  despite  the  versatility  of  his  busy 
brain,  his  excellent  good  sense  and  true  capacity  are 
clearly  made  manifest. 

Now,  however,  when  the  whole  company  were  reas- 
sembled, Lescarbot  found  associates  more  congenial  than 
the  rude  soldiers,  mechanics,  and  laborers  who  gathered 
at  night  around  the  blazing  logs  in  their  rude  hall.  Port 
Royal  was  a  quadrangle  of  wooden  buildings  enclosing  a 
spacious  court.  At  the  southeast  corner  was  the  arched 
gateway,  whence  a  path,  a  few  paces  in  length,  led  to  the 
water.  It  was  flanked  by  a  sort  of  bastion  of  palisades, 
while  at  the  southwest  corner  was  another  bastion,  on 
which  four  cannon  were  mounted.  On  the  east  side  of 
the  quadrangle  was  a  range  of  magazines  and  storehouses ; 
on  the  west  were  quarters  for  the  men ;  on  the  north,  a 
dining-hall  and  lodgings  for  the  principal  persons  of  the 
company ;  while  on  the  south,  or  water  side,  were  the 
kitchen,  the  forge,  and  the  oven.  Except  the  garden- 
patches  and  the  cemetery,  the  adjacent  ground  was  thickly 
studded  with  the  stumps  of  the  newly  felled  trees. 

Most  bountiful  provision  had  been  made  for  the  tem- 
poral wants  of  the  colonists,  and  Lescarbot  is  profuse  in 
praise  of  the  liberality  of  De  Monts  and  two  merchants  of 
Rochelle,  who  had  freighted  the  ship  "Jonas."  Of  wine, 
in  particular,  the  supply  was  so  generous  that  every  man 
in  Port  Royal  was  served  with  three  pints  daily. 


14  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

The  principal  persons  of  the  colony  sat,  fifteen  in  num- 
ber, at  Poutrincourt's  table,  which,  by  an  ingenious  device 
of  Champlain,  was  always  well  furnished.  He  formed 
the  fifteen  into  a  new  order,  christened  "  L'Ordre  de  Bon- 
Temps."  Each  was  Grand  Master  in  turn,  holding  office 
for  one  day.  It  was  his  function  to  cater  for  the  com- 
pany ;  and  as  it  became  a  point  of  honor  to  fill  the  post 
with  credit,  the  prospective  Grand  Master  was  usually 
busy,  for  several  days  before  coming  to  his  dignity,  in 
hunting,  fishing,  or  bartering  provisions  with  the  Indians. 
Thus  did  Poutrincourt's  table  groan  beneath  all  the  lux- 
uries of  the  winter  forest,  —  flesh  of  moose,  caribou,  and 
deer,  beaver,  otter,  and  hare,  bears,  and  wild-cats ;  with 
ducks,  geese,  grouse,  and  plover ;  sturgeon,  too,  and  trout, 
and  fish  innumerable,  speared  through  the  ice  of  the  Equille, 
or  drawn  from  the  depths  of  the  neighboring  sea.  "  And," 
says  Lescarbot,  in  closing  his  bill  of  fare,  "  whatever  our 
gourmands  at  home  may  think,  we  found  as  good  cheer  at 
Port  Royal  as  they  at  their  Rue  aux  Ours  in  Paris,  and 
that,  too,  at  a  cheaper  rate."  As  for  the  preparation  of 
this  manifold  provision,  for  that  too  was  the  Grand 
Master  answerable  ;  since,  during  his  day  of  office,  he  was 
autocrat  of  the  kitchen. 

Nor  did  bounteous  repast  lack  a  solemn  and  befitting 
ceremonial.  When  the  hour  had  struck,  —  after  the 
manner  of  our  fathers,  they  dined  at  noon,  —  the  Grand 
Master  entered  the  hall,  a  napkin  on  his  shoulder,  his  staff 
of  office  in  his  hand,  and  the  collar  of  the  order  —  of 
which  the  chronicler  fails  not  to  commemorate  the  costli- 
ness —  about  his  neck.  The  brotherhood  followed,  each 
bearing  a  dish.  The  invited  guests  were  Indian  chiefs,  of 
whom  old  Membertou  was  daily  present,  seated  at  table 
with  the' French,  who  took  pleasure  in  this  red-skin  com- 
panionship. Those  of  humbler  degree,  warriors,  squaws, 
and  children,  sat  on  the  floor  or  crouched  together  in  the 


PARKMAN.  15 

corners  of  the  hall,  eagerly  waiting  their  portion  of  biscuit 
or  of  bread,  —  a  novel  and  much  coveted  luxury.  Treated 
always  with  kindness,  they  became  fond  of  the  French, 
who  often  followed  them  on  their  moose-hunts,  and  shared 
their  winter  bivouac. 

At  their  evening  meal  there  was  less  of  form  and  cir- 
cumstance ;  and  when  the  winter  night  closed  in,  when 
the  flame  crackled  and  the  sparks  streamed  up  the  wide- 
throated  chimney,  when  the  founders  of  New  France  and 
their  tawny  allies  were  gathered  around  the  blaze,  then 
did  the  Grand  Master  resign  the  collar  and  the  staff  to 
the  successor  of  his  honors,  and,  with  jovial  courtesy, 
pledge  him  in  a  cup  of  wine.  Thus  did  these  ingenious 
Frenchmen  beguile  the  winter  of  their  exile. 

It  was  a  winter  unusually  benignant.  Until  January, 
they  wore  no  warmer  garment  than  their  doublets.  They 
made  hunting  and  fishing  parties,  in  which  the  Indians, 
whose  lodges  were  always  to  be  seen  under  the  friendly 
shelter  of  the  buildings,  failed  not  to  bear  a  part.  "  I  re- 
member," says  Lescarbot,  "  that  on  the  fourteenth  of 
January,  of  a  Sunday  afternoon,  we  amused  ourselves 
with  singing  and  music  on  the  river  Equille,  and  that  in 
the  same  month  we  went  to  see  the  wheat-fields  two 
leagues  from  the  fort,  and  dined  merrily  in  the  sunshine." 

Good  spirits  and  good  cheer  saved  them  in  great  meas- 
from  the  scurvy,  and  though,  towards  the  end  of  winter, 
severe  cold  set  in,  yet  only  four  men  died.  The  snow 
thawed  at  last,  and  as  patches  of  the  black  and  oozy  soil 
began  to  appear,  they  saw  the  grain  of  their  last  autumn's 
sowing  already  piercing  the  mould.  The  forced  inaction 
of  the  winter  was  over.  The  carpenters  built  a  water- 
mill  ;  others  enclosed  fields  and  laid  out  gardens  ;  others, 
again,  with  scoop-nets  and  baskets,  caught  the  herrings 
and  alowives  as  they  ran  up  the  innumerable  rivulets. 
The  leaders  of  the  colony  set  a  contagious  example  of 


16  LEAFLETS    FEOM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

activity.  Poutrincourt  forgot  the  prejudices  of  his  noble 
birth,  and  went  himself  into  the  woods  to  gather  turpen- 
tine from  the  pines,  which  he  converted  into  tar  by  a  pro- 
cess of  his  own  invention  ;  while  Lescarbot,  eager  to  test 
the  qualities  of  the  soil,  was  again,  hoe  in  hand,  at  work 
all  day  in  his  garden.  All  seemed  full  of  promise ;  but 
alas  for  the  bright  hope  that  kindled  the  manly  heart  of 
Champlain  and  the  earnest  spirit  of  the  vivacious  advocate  ! 
A.  sudden  blight  fell  on  them,  and  their  rising  prosperity 
withered  to  the  ground.  On  a  morning,  late  in  spring, 
as  the  French  were  at  breakfast,  the  ever-watchful  Mem- 
bertou  came  in  with  news  of  an  approaching  sail.  They 
hastened  to  the  shore  ;  but  the  vision  of  the  centenarian 
sagamore  put  them  all  to  shame.  They  could  see  nothing. 
At  length  their  doubts  were  resolved.  In  full  view  a  small 
vessel  stood  on  towards  them,  and  anchored  before  the 
fort.  She  was  commanded  by  one  Chevalier,  a  young 
man  from  St.  Malo,  and  was  freighted  with  disastrous 
tidings.  De  Monts's  monopoly  was  rescinded.  The  life 
of  the  enterprise  was  stopped,  and  the  establishment  of 
Port  Royal  could  no  longer  be  supported ;  for  its  expense 
was  great,  the  body  of  the  colony  being  laborers  in  the  pay 
of  the  company.  Nor  was  the  annulling  of  the  patent  the 
full  extent  of  the  disaster ;  for  during  the  last  summer 
the  Dutch  had  found  their  way  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and 
carried  away  a  rich  harvest  of  furs,  while  other  inter- 
loping traders  had  plied  a  busy  traffic  along  the  coasts, 
and,  in  the  excess  of  their  avidity,  dug  up  the  bodies  of 
buried  Indians  to  rob  them  of  their  funeral  robes. 

It  was  to  the  merchants  and  fishermen  of  the  Norman, 
Breton,  and  Biscayan  ports,  exasperated  at  their  exclusion 
from  a  lucrative  trade,  and  at  the  confiscations  which  had 
sometimes  followed  their  attempts  to  engage  in  it,  that 
this  sudden  blow  was  due.  Money  had  been  used  freely 
at  court,  and  the  monopoly,  unjustly  granted,  had  been 


PARKMAN.  17 

more  unjustly  withdrawn.  De  Monts  and  his  company, 
who  had  spent  a  hundred  thousand  livres,  were  allowed 
six  thousand  in  requital,  to  be  collected  from  the  fur- 
traders  in  the  form  of  a  tax. 

Chevalier,  captain  of  the  ill-omened  bark,  was  enter- 
tained with  a  hospitality  little  deserved,  since,  having 
been  intrusted  with  sundry  hams,  fruits,  spices,  sweet- 
meats, jellies,  and  other  dainties,  sent  by  the  generous  De 
Monts  to  his  friends  of  New  France,  he  with  his  crew  had 
devoured  them  on  the  voyage,  alleging,  in  justification, 
that,  in  their  belief,  the  inmates  of  Port  Royal  would  all 
be  dead  before  their  arrival. 

Choice  there  was  none,  and  Port  Royal  must  be  aban- 
doned. Built  on  a  false  basis,  sustained  only  by  the 
fleeting  favor  of  a  government,  the  generous  enterprise 
had  come  to  naught.  Yet  Poutrincourt,  who  in  virtue 
of  his  grant  from  De  Monts  owned  the  locality,  bravely 
resolved  that,  come  what  might,  he  would  see  the  adven- 
ture to  an  end,  even  should  it  involve  emigration  with 
his- family  to  the  wilderness.  Meanwhile,  he  began  the 
dreary  task  of  abandonment,  sending  boat-loads  of  men 
and  stores  to  Canseau,  where  lay  the  ship  "  Jonas,"  eking 
out  her  diminished  profits  by  fishing  for  cod. 

Membertou  was  full  of  grief  at  the  departure  of  his 
friends.  He  had  built  a  palisaded  village  not  far  from 
Port  Royal,  and  here  were  mustered  some  four  hundred 
of  his  warriors  for  a  foray  into  the  country  of  the  Arinou- 
chiquois,  dwellers  along  the  coasts  of  Massachusetts, 
New  Hampshire,  and  western  Maine.  In  behalf  of  this 
martial  concourse  he  had  proved  himself  a  sturdy  beggar, 
pursuing  Poutrincourt  with  daily  petitions,  now  for  a 
bushel  of  beans,  now  for  a  basket  of  bread,  and  now  for 
a  barrel  of  wine  to  regale  his  greasy  crew.  Membertou's 
long  life  had  not  been  one  of  repose.  In  deeds  of  blood 
and  treachery  he  had  no  rival  in  the  Acadian  forest ;  and 

8 


18  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

as  his  old  age  was  beset  with  enemies,  his  alliance  with 
the  French  had  a  foundation  of  policy  no  less  than  of 
affection.  For  the  rest,  in  right  of  his  quality  of  Saga- 
more he  claimed  perfect  equality  both  with  Poutrincourt 
and  with  the  King,  laying  his  shrivelled  forefingers  side 
by  side  in  token  of  friendship  between  peers.  Calumny 
did  not  spare  him  ;  and  a  rival  chief  intimated  to  the 
French  that,  under  cover  of  a  war  with  the  Armouchi- 
quois,  the  crafty  veteran  meant  to  seize  and  plunder  Port 
Royal.  Precautions,  therefore,  were  taken ;  but  they 
were  seemingly  needless,  for,  their  feasts  and  dances 
over,  the  warriors  launched  their  birchen  flotilla  and 
set  forth.  After  an  absence  of  six  weeks  they  reappeared 
with  howls  of  victory,  and  their  exploits  were  commemo- 
rated in  French  verse  by  the  muse  of  the  indefatigable 
Lescarbot. 

With  a  heavy  heart  the  latter  bade  farewell  to  the 
dwellings,  the  cornfields,  the  gardens,  and  all  the  dawn- 
ing prosperity  of  Port  Royal,  and  sailed  for  Canseau  in  a 
small  vessel  on  the  thirtieth  of  July.  Poutrincourt  and 
Champlain  remained  behind,  for  the  former  was  resolved 
to  learn  before  his  departure  the  results  of  his  agricul- 
tural labors.  Reaching  a  harbor  on  the  southern  coast 
of  Nova  Scotia,  six  leagues  west  of  Canseau,  Lescarbot 
found  a  fishing-vessel  commanded  and  owned  by  an  old 
Basque  named  Savalet,  who  for  forty-two  successive 
years  had  carried  to  France  his  annual  cargo  of  codfish. 
He  was  in  great  glee  at  the  success  of  his  present  venture, 
reckoning  his  profits  at  ten  thousand  francs.  The  In- 
dians, however,  annoyed  him  beyond  measure,  boarding 
him  from  their  canoes  as  his  fishing-boats  came  along- 
side, and  helping  themselves  at  will  to  his  halibut  and 
cod.  At  Canseau  —  a  harbor  near  the  cape  now  bearing 
the  name  —  the  ship  "  Jonas  "  still  lay,  her  hold  well  stored 
with  fish ;  and  here,  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  August, 


PARKMAN.  19 

Lescarbot  was  rejoined  by  Poutrincourt  and  Champlain, 
who  had  come  from  Port  Royal  in  an  open  boat.  For  a 
few  days,  they  amused  themselves  with  gathering  rasp- 
berries on  the  islands ;  then  they  spread  their  sails  for 
France,  and  early  in  October,  1607,  anchored  in  the 
harbor  of  St.  Malo. 

First  of  Europeans,  they  had  essayed  to  found  an  agri- 
cultural colony  in  the  New  World.  The  leaders  of  the 
enterprise  had  acted  less  as  merchants  than  as  citizens  ; 
and  the  fur-trading  monopoly,  odious  in  itself,  had  been 
used  as  the  instrument  of  a  large  and  generous  design. 
There  was  a  radical  defect,  however,  in  their  scheme  of 
settlement.  Excepting  a  few  of  the  leaders,  those  en- 
gaged in  it  had  not  chosen  a  home  in  the  wilderness  of 
New  France,  but  were  mere  hirelings,  careless  of  the 
welfare  of  the  colony.  The  life  which  should  have  per- 
vaded all  the  members  was  confined  to  the  heads  alone. 

Towards  the  fickle  and  bloodthirsty  race  who  claimed 
the  lordship  of  the  forests  these  colonists  bore  themselves 
in  a  spirit  of  kindness  contrasting  brightly  with  the  ra- 
pacious cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  and  the  harshness  of 
the  English  settlers.  When  the  last  boat-load  left  Port 
Royal,  the  shore  resounded  with  lamentation ;  and  noth- 
ing could  console  the  afflicted  savages  but  reiterated 
promises  of  a  speedy  return. —  From  "Pioneers  of  France 
in  the  New  World"  Part  Second,  chap.  iv. 


DOMINIQUE  DE   GOURGUES. 


r  I  ""HERE  was  a  gentleman  of  Mont-de-Marsan,  Doini- 
-*•  nique  de  Gourgues,  a  soldier  of  ancient  birth  and 
high  renown.  He  hated  the  Spaniards  with  a  mortal 
hate.  Fighting  in  the  Italian  wars,  —  for  from  boyhood 
he  was  \vedded  to  the  sword,  — he  had  been  taken  pris- 
oner by  them  near  Siena,  where  he  had  signalized  himself 
by  a  fiery  and  determined  bravery.  With  brutal  insult, 
they  chained  him  to  the  oar  as  a  galley-slave.  After  he 
had  long  endured  this  ignominy,  the  Turks  had  captured 
the  vessel  and  carried  her  to  Constantinople.  It  was  but 
a  change  of  tyrants ;  but,  soon  after,  while  she  was  on  a 
cruise,  Gourgues  still  at  the  oar,  a  galley  of  the  Maltese 
knights  hove  in  sight,  bore  down  on  her,  recaptured  her, 
and  set  the  prisoner  free.  For  several  years  after,  his 
restless  spirit  found  employment  in  voyages  to  Africa, 
Brazil,  and  regions  yet  more  remote.  His  naval  repute 
rose  high,  but  his  grudge  against  the  Spaniards  still 
rankled  within  him  ;  and  when,  returned  from  his  rov- 
ings,  he  learned  the  tidings  from  Florida,  his  hot 
Gascon  blood  boiled  with  fury. 

The  honor  of  France  had  been  foully  stained,  and  there 
was  none  to  wipe  away  the  shame.  The  faction-ridden 
King  was  dumb.  The  nobles  who  surrounded  him  were 
in  the  Spanish  interest.  Then,  since  they  proved  rec- 
reant, he,  Dominique  de  Gourgues,  a  simple  gentleman, 
would  take  upon  him  to  avenge  the  wrong,  and  restore 
the  dimmed  lustre  of  the  French  name.  He  sold  his 


22  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

inheritance,  borrowed  money  from  his  brother,  who  held 
a  high  post  in  Guienne,  and  equipped  three  small  vessels, 
navigable  by  sail  or  oar.  On  board  he  placed  a  hundred 
arquebusiers  and  eighty  sailors,  prepared  to  fight  on  land, 
if  need  were.  The  noted  Blaise  de  Montluc,  then  lieuten- 
ant for  the  King  in  Guienne,  gave  him  a  commission  to 
make  war  on  the  negroes  of  Benin, —  that  is,  to  kidnap 
them  as  slaves,  an  adventure  then  held  honorable. 

His  true  design  was  locked  within  his  own  breast.  He 
mustered  his  followers,  feasted  them,  —  not  a  few  were 
of  rank  equal  to  his  own,  —  and,  on  the  twenty-second  of 
August,  1567,  sailed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Charente. 
Off  Cape  Finisterre,  so  violent  a  storm  buffeted  his  ships 
that  his  men  clamored  to  return  ;  but  Gourgues's  spirit 
prevailed.  He  bore  away  for  Africa,  and,  landing  at  the 
Rio  del  Oro,  refreshed  and  cheered  them  as  he  best  might. 
Thence  he  sailed  for  Cape  Blanco,  where  the  jealous 
Portuguese,  who  had  a  fort  in  the  neighborhood,  set  upon 
him  three  negro  chiefs.  Gourgues  beat  them  off,  and  re- 
mained master  of  the  harbor  ;  whence,  however,  he  soon 
voyaged  onward  to  Cape  Verd,  and,  steering  westward, 
made  for  the  West  Indies.  Here,  advancing  from  island 
to  island,  he  came  to  Hispaniola,  where,  between  the  fury 
of  a  hurricane  at  sea  and  the  jealousy  of  the  Spaniards  on 
shore,  he  was  in  no  small  jeopardy, —  "the  Spaniards," 
exclaims  the  indignant  journalist,  "  who  think  that  this 
New  World  was  made  for  nobody  but  them,  and  that  no 
other  man  living  has  a  right  to  move  or  breathe  here  !  " 
Gourgues  landed,  however,  obtained  the  water  of  which 
he  was  in  need,  and  steered  for  Cape  San  Antonio,  in 
Cuba.  There  he  gathered  his  followers  about  him, 
and  addressed  them  with  his  fiery  Gascon  eloquence. 
For  the  first  time,  he  told  them  his  true  purpose.  He 
inveighed  against  Spanish  cruelty.  He  painted,  with 
angry  rhetoric,  the  butcheries  of  Fort  Caroline  and 
St.  Augustine. 


PARKMAN.  23 

"  What  disgrace,"  he  cried,  "  if  such  an  insult  should 
pass  unpunished !  What  glory  to  us,  if  we  avenge  it ! 
To  this  I  have  devoted  my  fortune.  I  relied  on  you.  I 
thought  you  jealous  enough  of  your  country's  glory  to 
sacrifice  life  itself  in  a  cause  like  this.  Was  I  deceived  ? 
I  will  show  you  the  way ;  I  will  be  always  at  your  head ; 
I  will  bear  the  brunt  of  the  danger.  Will  you  refuse  to 
follow  me  ?  " 

At  first  his  startled  hearers  listened  in  silence ;  but 
soon  the  passions  of  that  adventurous  age  rose  responsive 
to  his  words.  The  sparks  fell  among  gunpowder.  The 
combustible  French  nature  burst  into  flame.  The  enthu- 
siasm of  the  soldiers  rose  to  such  a  pitch  that  Gourgues 
had  much  ado  to  make  them  wait  till  the  moon  was  full 
before  tempting  the  perils  of  the  Bahama  Channel.  His 
time  came  at  length.  The  moon  rode  high  above  the 
lonely  sea,  and,  silvered  in  its  light,  the  ships  of  the 
avenger  held  their  course. 

But  how  meanwhile,  had  it  fared  with  the  Spaniards 
in  Florida  ?  The  good-will  of  the  Indians  had  vanished. 
The  French  had  been  obtrusive  and  vexatious  guests, 
but  their  worst  trespasses  had  been  mercy  and  tender- 
ness, to  the  daily  outrage  of  the  new-comers.  Friendship 
had  changed  to  aversion,  aversion  to  hatred,  hatred  to 
open  war.  The  forest-paths  were  beset ;  stragglers  were 
cut  off ;  and  woe  to  the  Spaniard  who  should  venture 
after  nightfall  beyond  call  of  the  outposts. 

Menendez,  however,  had  strengthened  himself  in  his 
new  conquest.  St.  Augustine  was  well  fortified ;  Fort 
Caroline,  now  Fort  San  Mateo,  was  repaired ;  and  two 
redoubts  were  thrown  up  to  guard  tho  mouth  of  the  River 
of  May.  Thence,  on  an  afternoon  in  early  spring,  the 
Spaniards  saw  three  sail  steering  northward.  They 
suspected  no  enemy,  and  their  batteries  boomed  a  salute. 
Gourgues's  ships  replied,  then  stood  out  to  sea,  and  were 
lost  in  the  shades  of  cveninjr. 


24         LEAFLETS  FEOM  STANDARD  AUTHORS. 

They  kept  their  course  all  night,  and,  as  day  broke, 
anchored  at  the  inouth  of  a  river,  the  St.  Mary's  or  the 
Santilla,  by  their  reckoning  fifteen  leagues  north  of  the 
River  of  May.  Here,  as  it  grew  light,  Gourgues  saw 
the  borders  of  the  sea  thronged  with  savages  armed  and 
plumed  for  war.  They  too  had  mistaken  the  strangers 
for  Spaniards,  and  mustered  to  meet  their  tyrants  at  the 
landing.  But  in  the  French  ships  there  was  a  trumpeter 
who  had  been  long  in  Florida,  and  knew  the  Indians  well. 
He  went  towards  them  in  a  boat,  with  many  gestures  of 
friendship  ;  and  no  sooner  was  he  recognized  than  the 
naked  crowd,  with  yelps  of  delight,  danced  for  joy  along 
the  sands.  Why  had  he  ever  left  them  ?  they  asked  ;  and 
Avhy  had  he  not  returned  before  ?  The  intercourse  thus 
auspiciously  begun  was  actively  kept  up.  Gourgues  told 
the  principal  chief  —  who  was  no  other  than  Satouriona, 
of  old  the  ally  of  the  French  —  that  he  had  come  to  visit 
them,  make  friendship  with  them,  and  bring  them  pres- 
ents. At  this  last  announcement,  so  grateful  to  Indian 
ears,  the  dancing  was  renewed  with  double  zeal.  The 
next  morning  was  named  for  a  grand  council.  Satouriona 
sent  runners  to  summon  all  Indians  within  call ;  while 
Gourgues,  for  safety,  brought  his  vessels  within  the 
mouth  of  the  river. 

Morning  came,  and  the  woods  were  thronged  with  con- 
gregated warriors.  Gourgues  and  his  soldiers  landed  with 
martial  pomp.  In  token  of  mutual  confidence,  the  French 
laid  aside  their  arquebuses,  the  Indians  their  bows  and 
arrows.  Satouriona  came  to  meet  the  strangers,  and 
seated  their  commander  at  his  side  on  a  wooden  stool 
draped  arid  cushioned  with  the  gray  Spanish  moss.  Two 
old  Indians  cleared  the  spot  of  brambles,  weeds,  and 
grass  ;  and,  their  task  finished,  the  tribesmen  took  their 
places,  ring  within  ring,  standing,  sitting,  and  crouching 
on  the  ground,  a  dusky  concourse,  plumed  in  festal  array, 


PARKMAN.  25 

waiting  with  grave  visages  and  eyes  intent.  Gourgues 
was  about  to  speak,  when  the  chief,  who,  says  the  narra- 
tor, had  not  learned  French  manners,  rose  and  antici- 
pated him.  He  broke  into  a  vehement  harangue,  and 
the  cruelty  of  the  Spaniards  was  the  burden  of  his  words. 

Since  the  French  fort  was  taken,  he  said,  the  Indians 
had  not  had  one  happy  day.  The  Spaniards  drove  them 
from  their  cabins,  stole  their  corn,  ravished  their  wives 
and  daughters,  and  killed  their  children  ;  and  all  this 
they  had  endured  because  they  loved  the  French.  There 
was  a  French  boy  who  had  escaped  from  the  massacre  at 
the  fort.  They  had  found  him  in  the  woods ;  and  though 
the  Spaniards,  who  wished  to  kill  him,  demanded  that 
they  should  give  him  up,  they  had  kept  him  for  his 
friends. 

"  Look  !  "  pursued  the  chief,  "  here  he  is  ! "  —  and  he 
brought  forward  a  youth  of  sixteen,  named  Pierre  Debre', 
who  became  at  once  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  French, 
his  knowledge  of  the  Indian  language  making  him  an 
excellent  interpreter. 

Delighted  as  he  was  at  this  outburst  against  the  Span- 
iards, Gourgues  by  no  means  saw  fit  to  display  the  full 
extent  of  his  satisfaction.  He  thanked  the  Indians  for 
their  good-will,  exhorted  them  to  continue  in  it,  and 
pronounced  an  ill-merited  eulogy  on  the  greatness  and 
goodness  of  his  King.  As  for  the  Spaniards,  he  said, 
their  day  of  reckoning  was  at  hand ;  and  if  the  Indians 
had  been  abused  for  their  love  of  the  French,  the  French 
would  be  their  avengers.  Here  Satouriona  forgot  his 
dignity,  and  leaped  up  for  joy. 

"  What !  "  he  cried,  "  will  you  fight  the  Spaniards  ?" 

"  I  came  here,"  replied  Gourgues,  "  only  to  reconnoitre 
the  country  and  make  friends  with  you,  then  to  go  back 
and  bring  more  soldiers  ;  but  when  I  hear  what  you  are 
suffering  from  them,  I  wish  to  fall  upon  them  this  very 


l>t>  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

day,  and  rescue  you  from  their  tyranny."  And,  all 
around  the  ring,  a  clamor  of  applauding  voices  greeted 
his  words. 

"  But  you  will  do  your  part,"  pursued  the  Frenchman  ; 
"  you  will  not  leave  us  all  the  honor." 

"We  will  go,"  replied  Satouriona,  "and  die  with  you, 
if  need  be." 

"Then,  if  we  fight,  we  ought  to  fight  at  once.  How 
soon  can  you  have  your  warriors  ready  to  march  ?  " 

The  chief  asked  three  days  for  preparation.  Gourgues 
cautioned  him  to  secrecy,  lest  the  Spaniards  should  take 
alarm. 

"  Never  fear,"  was  the  answer ;  "  we  hate  them  more 
than  you  do." 

Then  came  a  distribution  of  gifts,  —  knives,  hatchets, 
mirrors,  bells,  and  beads,  —  while  the  warrior-rabble 
crowded  to  receive  them,  with  eager  faces,  and  tawny 
outstretched  arms.  The  distribution  over,  Gourgues 
asked  the  chiefs  if  there  was  any  other  matter  in  which 
he  could  serve  them.  On  this,  pointing  to  his  shirt,  they 
expressed  a  peculiar  admiration  for  that  garment,  and 
begged  each  to  have  one,  to  be  worn  at  feasts  and 
councils  during  life,  and  in  their  graves  after  death. 
Gourgues  complied  ;  and  his  grateful  confederates  were 
soon  stalking  about  him,  fluttering  in  the  spoils  of  his' 
wardrobe. 

To  learn  the  strength  and  position  of  the  Spaniards, 
Gourgues  now  sent  out  three  scouts ;  and  with  them 
went  Olotoraca,  Satouriona's  nephew,  a  young  brave  of 
great  renown. 

The  chief,  eager  to  prove  his  great  faith,  gave  as 
hostages  his  only  son  and  his  favorite  wife.  They  were 
sent  on  board  the  ships,  while  the  savage  concourse  dis- 
persed to  their  encampments,  with  leaping,  stamping, 
dancing,  and  whoops  of  jubilation. 


PARKMAN.  27 

The  day  appointed  came,  and  with  it  the  savage  army, 
hideous  in  war-paint  and  plumed  for  battle.  Their  cere- 
monies began.  The  woods  rang  back  their  songs  and 
yells  as  with  frantic  gesticulations  they  brandished  their 
war-clubs  and  vaunted  their  deeds  of  prowess.  Then 
they  drank  the  black  drink  endowed  with  mystic  virtues 
against  hardship  and  danger,  and  Gourgues  himself  pre- 
tended to  swallow  the  nauseous  decoction. 

These  ceremonies  consumed  the  day.  It  was  evening 
before  the  allies  filed  off  into  their  forests,  and  took  the 
path  for  the  Spanish  forts.  The  French,  on  their  part, 
were  to  repair  by  sea  to  the  rendezvous.  Gourgues 
mustered  and  addressed  his  men.  It  was  needless :  their 
ardor  was  at  fever-height.  They  broke  in  upon  his  words, 
and  demanded  to  be  led  at  once  against  the  enemy. 
Francois  Bourdelais,  with  twenty  sailors,  was  left  with 
the  ships.  Gourgues  affectionately  bade  him  farewell. 

"  If  I  am  slain  in  this  most  just  enterprise,"  he  said, 
"  1  leave  all  in  your  charge,  and  pray  you  to  carry  back 
my  soldiers  to  France." 

There  were  many  embracings  among  the  excited 
Frenchmen,  many  sympathetic  tears  from  those  who 
were  to  stay  behind,  many  messages  left  with  them 
for  wives,  children,  friends,  and  mistresses  ;  and  then  this 
valiant  band  pushed  their  boats  from  shore.  It  was  a 
harebrained  venture,  for,  as  young  Debre*  had  assured 
them,  the  Spaniards  on  the  River  of  May  were  four 
hundred  in  number,  secure  behind  their  ramparts. 

Hour  after  hour  the  sailors  pulled  at  the  oar.  They 
glided  slowly  by  the  sombre  shores  in  the  shimmering 
moonlight,  to  the  sound  of  the  murmuring  surf  and  the 
moaning  pine-trees.  In  the  gray  of  the  morning  they 
came  to  the  mouth  of  a  river,  probably  the  Nassau  ;  and 
here  a  northeast  wind  set  in  with  a  violence  that  almost 
wrecked  their  boats.  Their  Indian  allies  were  waiting 


28  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

on  the  bank,  but  for  a  while  the  gale  delayed  their  cross- 
ing. The  bolder  French  would  lose  no  time,  rowed 
through  the  tossing  waves,  and,  landing  safely,  left  their 
boats  and  pushed  into  the  forest.  Gourgues  took  the 
lead,  in  breastplate  and  back-piece.  At  his  side  marched 
the  young  chief  Olotoraca,  a  French  pike  in  his  hand  ; 
and  the  files  of  arquebuse-men  and  armed  soldiers  fol- 
lowed close  behind.  They  plunged  through  swamps, 
hewed  their  way  through  brambly  thickets  and  the 
matted  intricacies  of  the  forests,  and,  at  five  in  the 
afternoon,  wellnigh  spent  with  fatigue  and  hunger, 
came  to  a  river  or  inlet  of  the  sea  not  far  from  the 
first  Spanish  fort.  Here  they  found  three  hundred 
Indians  waiting  for  them. 

Tired  as  he  was,  Gourgues  would  not  rest.  He  would 
fain  attack  at  daybreak,  and  with  ten  arquebusiers  and 
his  Indian  guide  he  set  forth  to  reconnoitre.  Night 
closed  upon  him.  It  was  a  vain  task  to  struggle  on,  in 
pitchy  darkness,  among  trunks  of  trees,  fallen  logs,  tan- 
gled vines,  and  swollen  streams.  Gourgues  returned, 
anxious  and  gloomy.  An  Indian  chief  approached  him, 
read  through  the  darkness  his  perturbed  look,  and  offered 
to  lead  him  by  a  better  path  along  the  margin  of  the  sea. 
Gourgues  joyfully  assented,  and  ordered  all  his  men  to 
march.  The  Indians,  better  skilled  in  woodcraft,  chose 
the  shorter  course  through  the  forest. 

The  French  forgot  their  weariness,  and  pressed  on 
with  speed.  At  dawn  they  and  their  allies  met  on  the 
bank  of  a  stream,  beyond  which,  and  very  near,  was  the 
fort.  But  the  tide  was  in.  They  essayed  to  cross  in 
vain.  Greatly  vexed, — for  he  had  hoped  to  take  the 
enemy  asleep,  —  Gourgues  withdrew  his  soldiers  into  the 
forest,  where  they  were  no  sooner  ensconced  than  a 
drenching  rain  fell,  and  they  had  much  ado  to  keep  their 
gun-matches  burning.  The  light  grew  fast.  Gourgues 


PARKMAN.  29 

plainly  saw  the  fort,  whose  defences  seemed  slight  and 
unfinished.  He  even  saw  the  Spaniards  at  work  within. 
A  feverish  interval  elapsed.  At  length  the  tide  was  out, 
—  so  far,  at  least,  that  the  stream  was  fordable.  A  little 
higher  up,  a  clump  of  trees  lay  between  it  and  the  fort. 
Behind  this  friendly  screen  the  passage  was  begun.  Each 
man  tied  his  powder-flask  to  his  steel  cap,  held  his  arque- 
buse  above  his  head  with  one  hand,  and  grasped  his 
sword  with  the  other.  The  channel  was  a  bed  of  oysters. 
The  sharp  shells  cut  their  feet  as  they  waded  through. 
But  the  further  bank  was  gained.  They  emerged  from 
the  water  drenched,  lacerated,  bleeding,  but  with  un- 
abated mettle.  Under  cover  of  the  trees  Gourgues  set 
them  in  array.  They  stood  with  kindling  eyes,  and 
hearts  throbbing,  but  not  with  fear.  Gourgues  pointed 
to  the  Spanish  fort,  seen  by  glimpses  through  the  trees. 
"  Look  !  "  he  said, "  there  are  the  robbers  who  have  stolen 
this  land  from  our  King ;  there  are  the  murderers  who 
have  butchered  our  countrymen ! "  With  voices  eager, 
fierce,  but  half  suppressed,  they  demanded  to  be  led  on. 

Gourgues  gave  the  word.  Cazenove,  his  lieutenant, 
with  thirty  men,  pushed  for  the  fort-gate ;  he  himself, 
with  the  main  body,  for  the  glacis.  It  was  near  noon  ; 
the  Spaniards  had  just  finished  their  meal,  and,  says  the 
narrative,"  were  still  picking  their  teeth,"  when  a  startled 
cry  rang  in  their  ears. 

"  To  arms !  to  arms !  The  French  are  coming !  the 
French  are  coming !  " 

It  was  the  voice  of  a  cannoneer  who  had  that  moment 
mounted  the  rampart  and  seen  the  assailants  advancing  in 
unbroken  ranks,  with  heads  lowered  and  weapons  at  the 
charge.  He  fired  his  cannon  among  them.  He  even  had 
time  to  load  and  fire  again,  when  the  light-limbed  Oloto- 
raca  bounded  forward,  ran  up  the  glacis,  leaped  the  un- 
finished ditch,  and  drove  his  pike  through  the  Spaniard 


30  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

from  breast  to  back.  Gourgues  was  now  on  the  glacis, 
when  he  heard  Cazenove  shouting  from  the  gate  that  the 
Spaniards  were  escaping  on  that  side.  He  turned  and  led 
his  men  thither  at  a  run.  In  a  moment  the  fugitives, 
sixty  in  all,  were  enclosed  between  his  party  and  that  of 
his  lieutenant.  The  Indians,  too,  came  leaping  to  the  spot. 
Not  a  Spaniard  escaped.  All  were  cut  down  but  a  few, 
reserved  by  Gourgues  for  a  more  inglorious  end. 

Meanwhile  the  Spaniards  in  the  other  fort,  on  the 
opposite  shore,  cannonaded  the  victors  without  ceasing. 
The  latter  turned  four  captured  guns  against  them.  One 
of  Gourgues's  boats,  a  very  large  one,  had  been  brought 
along  shore.  He  entered  it,  with  eighty  soldiers,  and 
pushed  for  the  further  bank.  With  loud  yells,  the  Indians 
leaped  into  the  water.  From  shore  to  shore,  the  St.  John's 
was  alive  with  them.  Each  held  his  bow  and  arrows  aloft 
in  one  hand,  while  he  swam  with  the  other.  A  panic 
seized  the  garrison  as  they  saw  the  savage  multitude. 
They  broke  out  of  the  fort  and  fled  into  the  forest.  But 
the  French  had  already  landed  ;  and  throwing  themselves 
in  the  path  of  the  fugitives,  they  greeted  them  with  a 
storm  of  lead.  The  terrified  wretches  recoiled,  but  flight 

'  ~ 

was  vain.  The  Indian  whoop  rang  behind  them  ;  war- 
clubs  and  arrows  finished  the  work.  Gourgues's  utmost 
efforts  saved  but  fifteen,  —  saved  them,  not  out  of  mercy, 
but  from  a  refinement  of  vengeance. 

The  next  day  was  Quasimodo  Sunday,  or  the  Sunday 
after  Easter.  Gourgues  and  his  men  remained  quiet, 
making  ladders  for  the  assault  on  Fort  S,an  Mateo.  Mean- 
while the  whole  forest  was  in  arms,  and,  far  and  near,  the 
Indians  were  wild  with  excitement.  They  beset  the  Span- 
ish fort  till  not  a  soldier  could  venture  out.  The  garri- 
son, aware  of  their  danger,  though  ignorant  of  its  extent, 
devised  an  expedient  to  gain  information ;  and  one  of 
them,  painted  and  feathered  like  an  Indian,  ventured 


PARKMAN.  31 

within  Gourgues's  outposts.  He  himself  chanced  to  be  at 
hand,  and  by  his  side  walked  his  constant  attendant,  Olo- 
toraca.  The  keen-eyed  young  savage  pierced  the  cheat  at 
a  glance.  The  spy  was  seized,  and,  being  examined,  de- 
clared that  there  were  two  hundred  and  sixty  Spaniards 
in  San  Mateo,  and  that  they  believed  the  French  to  be  two 
thousand,  and  were  so  frightened  that  they  did  not  know 
what  they  were  doing. 

Gourgues,  well  pleased,  pushed  on  to  attack  them.  On 
Monday  evening  he  sent  forward  the  Indians  to  ambush 
themselves  on  both  sides  of  the  fort.  In  the  morning  he 
followed  with  his  Frenchmen  ;  and  as  the  glittering  ranks 
came  into  view,  defiling  between  the  forest  and  the  river, 
the  Spaniards  opened  on  them  with  culverins  from  a  pro- 
jecting basin.  The  French  took  cover  in  the  forest  with 
which  the  hills  below  and  behind  the  fort  were  densely 
overgrown.  Here,  ensconced  in  the  edge  of  the  woods, 
where,  himself  unseen,  he  could  survey  the  whole  extent 
of  the  defences,  Gourgues  presently  descried  a  strong  party 
of  Spaniards  issuing  from  their  works,  crossing  the  ditch, 
and  advancing  to  reconnoitre.  On  this,  returning  to 
his  men,  he  sent  Cazenove,  with  a  detachment,  to  station 
hi  nisei  f  at  a  point  well  hidden  by  trees  on  the  flank  of 
the  Spaniards.  The  latter,  with  strange  infatuation,  con- 
tinued their  advance.  Gourgues  and  his  followers  pushed 
on  through  the  thickets  to  meet  them.  As  the  Spaniards 
reached  the  edge  of  the  clearing,  a  deadly  fire  blazed  in 
their  faces,  and,  before  the  smoke  cleared,  the  French 
were  among  them,  sword  in  hand.  The  survivors  would 
have  fled  ;  but  Cazenove's  detachment  fell  upon  their  rear, 
and  all  were  killed  or  taken. 

When  their  comrades  in  the  fort  beheld  their  fate,  a 
panic  seized  them.  Conscious  of  their  own  deeds,  per- 
petrated on  this  very  spot,  they  could  hope  no  mercy. 
Their  terror  multiplied  immeasurably  the  numbers  of  their 


32  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

enemy.  They  deserted  the  fort  in  a  body,  and  fled  into 
the  woods  most  remote  from  the  French.  But  here  a 
deadlier  foe  awaited  them  ;  for  a  host  of  Indians  leaped 
up  from  ambush.  Then  rose  those  hideous  war-cries 
which  have  curdled  the  boldest  blood  and  blanched  the 
manliest  cheek.  Then  the  forest-warriors,  with  savage 
ecstasy,  wreaked  their  long  arrears  of  vengeance.  The 
French,  too,  hastened  to  the  spot,  and  lent  their  swords  to 
the  slaughter.  A  few  prisoners  were  saved  alive ;  the 
rest  were  slain;  and  thus  did  the  Spaniards  make  bloody 
atonement  for  the  butchery  of  Fort  Caroline.1 

But  Gourgues's  vengeance  was  not  yet  appeased.  Hard 
by  the  fort,  the  trees  were  pointed  out  to  him  on  which 
Menendez  had  hanged  his  captives,  and  placed  over  them 
the  inscription:  "Not  as  to  Frenchmen,  but  as  to 
Lutherans." 

Gourgues  ordered  the  Spanish  prisoners  to  be  led 
thither. 

"  Did  you  think,"  he  sternly  said,  as  the  pallid  wretches 
stood  ranged  before  him,  "  that  so  vile  a  treachery,  so 
detestable  a  cruelty,  against  a  King  so  potent  and  a  nation 
so  generous,  would  go  unpunished  ?  I,  one  of  the  hum- 
blest gentlemen  among  my  King's  subjects,  have  charged 
myself  with  avenging  it.  Even  if  the  Most  Christian  and 
the  Most  Catholic  Kings  had  been  enemies,  at  deadly  war, 
such  perfidy  and  extreme  cruelty  would  still  have  been 
unpardonable.  Now  that  they  are  friends  and  close  allies, 
there  is  no  name  vile  enough  to  brand  your  deeds,  no 
punishment  sharp  enough  to  requite  them.  But  though 
you  cannot  suffer  as  you  deserve,  you  shall  suffer  all  that 

1  This  is  the  French  account.  The  Spaniard,  Barcia,  with  greater  prob- 
ability, says  that  some  of  the  Spaniards  escaped  to  the  hills.  With  this 
exception,  the  Frencli  and  Spanish  accounts  agree.  Barcia  ascribes  the 
defeat  of  his  countrymen  to  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  enemy's  force. 
The  governor,  Gonzalo  de  Villaroil,  was,  he  says,  among  those  who 
escaped. 


PARKMAN.  33 

an  enemy  can  honorably  inflict,  that  your  example  may 
teach  others  to  observe  the  peace  and  alliance  which  you 
have  so  perfidiously  violated." 

They  were  hanged  where  the  French  had  hung  before 
them ;  and  over  them  was  nailed  the  inscription,  burned 
with  a  hot  iron  on  a  tablet  of  pine :  "  Not  as  to  Span- 
iards, but  as  to  Traitors,  Robbers,  and  Murderers." 

Gourgues's  mission  was  fulfilled.  To  occupy  the  coun- 
try had  never  been  his  intention  ;  nor  was  it  possible, 
for  the  Spaniards  were  still  in  force  at  St.  Augustine. 
His  was  a  whirlwind  visitation,  —  to  ravage,  ruin,  and 
vanish.  He  harangued  the  Indians,  and  exorted  them  to 
demolish  the  fort.  They  fell  to  the  work  with  keen  alac- 
rity >  and  in  less  than  a  day  not  one  stone  was  left  on 
another. 

Gourgues  returned  to  the  forts  at  the  mouth  of  the  river, 
destroyed  them  also,  and  took  up  his  march  for  his  ships. 
It  was  a  triumphal  procession.  The  Indians  thronged 
around  the  victors  with  gifts  of  fish  and  game  ;  and  an 
old  woman  declared  that  she  was  now  ready  to  die,  since 
she  had  seen  the  French  once  more. 

The  ships  were  ready  for  sea.  Gourgues  bade  his  dis- 
consolate allies  farewell,  and  nothing  would  content  them 
but  a  promise  to  return  soon.  Before  embarking,  he 
addressed  his  own  men,— 

"My  friends,  let  us  give  thanks  to  God  for  the  success 
He  has  granted  us.  It  is  He  who  saved  us  from  tempests  ; 
it  is  He  who  inclined  the  hearts  of  the  Indians  towards 
us;  it  is  He  who  blinded  the  understanding  of  the  Span- 
iards. They  were  four  to  one,  in  forts  well  armed  and 
provisioned.  Our  right  was  our  only  strength ;  and  yet 
we  have  conquered.  Not  to  our  own  swords,  but  to  God 
only,  we  owe  our  victory.  Then  let  us  thank  Him,  my 
friends ;  let  us  never  forgot  His  favors ;  and  let  us  pray 
that  He  may  continue  them,  saving  us  from  dangers,  and 

a 


34  LEAFLETS    PROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

guiding  us  safely  home.  Let  us  pray,  too,  that  He  may 
so  dispose  the  hearts  of  men  that  our  perils  and  toils  may 
find  favor  in  the  eyes  of  our  King  and  of  all  France,  since 
all  we  have  done  was  done  for  the  King's  service  and  for 
the  honor  of  our  country." 

Thus  Spaniards  and  Frenchmen  alike  laid  their  reeking 
swords  on  God's  altar. 

Gourgues  sailed  on  the  third  of  May,  and,  gazing  back 
along  their  foaming  wake,  the  adventurers  looked  their 
last  on  the  scene  of  their  exploits.  Their  success  had 
cost  its  price.  A  few  of  their  number  had  fallen,  and 
hardships  still  awaited  the  survivors.  Gourgues,  however, 
reached  Rochelle  on  the  day  of  Pentecost,  and  the  Hugue- 
not citizens  greeted  him  with  all  honor.  At  court  it  fared 
worse  with  him.  The  King,  still  obsequious  to  Spain, 
looked  on  him  coldly  and  askance.  The  Spanish  minister 
demanded  his  head.  It  was  hinted  to  him  that  he  was 
not  safe,  and  he  withdrew  to  Rouen,  where  he  found 
asylum  among  his  friends.  His  fortune  was  gone  ;  debts 
contracted  for  his  expedition  weighed  heavily  on  him  ; 
and  for  years  he  lived  in  obscurity,  almost  in  misery.  At 
length  his  prospects  brightened.  Elizabeth  of  England 
learned  his  merits  and  his  misfortunes,  and  invited  him 
to  enter  her  service.  The  King,  who,  says  the  Jesuit 
historian,  had  always  at  heart  been  delighted  with  his 
achievement,  openly  restored  him  to  favor ;  while,  some 
years  later,  Don  Antonio  tendered  him  command  of  his 
fleet,  to  defend  his  right  to  the  crown  of  Portugal  against 
Philip  the  Second.  Gourgues,  happy  once  more  to  cross 
swords  with  the  Spaniards,  gladly  embraced  this  offer; 
but,  on  his  way  to  join  the  Portuguese  prince,  he  died  at 
Tours  of  a  sudden  illness.  The  French  mourned  the  loss 
of  the  man  who  had  wiped  a  blot  from  the  national 
scutcheon,  and  respected  his  memory  as  that  of  one  of  the 
best  captains  of  his  time.  And,  in  truth,  if  a  zealous 


PARKMAN.  35 

patriotism,  a  fiery  valor,  and  skilful  leadership  are  worthy 
of  honor,  then  is  such  a  tribute  due  to  Dominique  de 
Gourgues,  despite  the  shadowing  vices  which  even  the 
spirit  of  that  wild  age  can  only  palliate,  the  personal  hate 
that  aided  the  impulse  of  his  patriotism,  and  the  implac- 
able cruelty  that  sullied  his  courage.  —  From  "Pioneers 
of  France  in  the  New  World"  Part  First,  chap.  x. 


SUCCESS  OF  LA  SALLE. 


"  I  ^HE  season  was  far  advanced.  On  the  bare  limbs  of 
•*•  the  forest  hung  a  few  withered  remnants  of  its 
gay  autumnal  livery  ;  and  the  smoke  crept  upward 
through  the  sullen  November  air  from  the  squalid  wig- 
wams of  La  Salle's  Abenaki  and  Mohegan  allies.  These, 
his  new  friends,  were  savages  whose  midnight  yells  had 
startled  the  border  hamlets  of  New  England  ;  who  had 
danced  around  Puritan  scalps,  and  whom  Puritan  imagi- 
nations painted  as  incarnate  fiends.  La  Salle  chose 
eighteen  of  them,  whom  he  added  to  the  twenty-three 
Frenchmen  who  remained  with  him,  some  of  the  rest 
having  deserted  and  others  lagged  behind.  The  Indians 
insisted  on  taking  their  squaws  with  them.  These  were 
ten  in  number,  besides  three  children  ;  and  thus  the  expe- 
dition included  fifty-four  persons,  of  whom  some  were 
useless,  and  others  a  burden. 

On  the  21st  of  December.  Tonty  and  Membre*  set  'out 
from  Fort  Miami  with  some  of  the  party  in  six  canoes, 
and  crossed  to  the  little  river  Chicago.  La  Salle,  with 
the  rest  of  the  men,  joined  them  a  few  days  later.  It 
was  the  dead  of  winter,  and  the  streams  were  frozen. 
They  made  sledges,  placed  on  them  the  canoes,  the  bag- 
gage, and  a  disabled  Frenchman ;  crossed  from  the  Chi- 
cago to  the  northern  branch  of  the  Illinois,  and  filed  in 
a  long  procession  down  its  frozen  course.  They  reached 
the  site  of  the  great  Illinois  village,  found  it  tenantless, 

4  7  2  S ,") 


38  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDAED    AUTHORS. 

and  continued  their  journey,  still  dragging  their  canoes, 
till  at  length  they  reached  open  water  below  Lake  Peoria. 
La  Salle  had  abandoned  for  a  time  his  original  plan  of 
building  a  vessel  for  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi. 
Bitter  experience  had  taught  him  the  difficulty  of  the 
attempt,  and  he  resolved  to  trust  to  his  canoes  alone. 
They  embarked  again,  floating  prosperously  down  between 
the  leafless  forests  that  flanked  the  tranquil  river ;  till, 
on  the  sixth  of  February,  they  issued  upon  the  majestic 
bosom  of  the  Mississippi.  Here,  for  the  time,  their  prog- 
ress was  stopped  ;  for  the  river  was  full  of  floating  ice. 
La  Salle's  Indians,  too,  had  lagged  behind ;  but,  within  a 
week,  all  had  arrived,  the  navigation  was  once  more  free, 
and  they  resumed  their  course.  Towards  evening,  they 
saw  on  their  right  the  mouth  of  a  great  river ;  and  the 
clear  current  was  invaded  by  the  headlong  torrent  of  the 
Missouri,  opaque  with  mud.  They  built  their  camp-fires 
in  the  neighboring  forest ;  and  at  daylight,  embarking 
anew  on  the  dark  and  mighty  stream,  drifted  swiftly 
down  towards  unknown  destinies.  They  passed  a  deserted 
town  of  the  Tamaroas  ;  saw,  three  days  after,  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio ;  and,  gliding  by  the  wastes  of  bordering 
swamp,  landed  on  the  twenty-fourth  of  February  near 
the  Third  Chickasaw  Bluffs.  They  encamped,  and  the 
hunters  went  out  for  game.  All  returned,  excepting 
Pierre  Prudhomme ;  and,  as  the  others  had  seen  fresh 
tracks  of  Indians,  La  Salle  feared  that  he  was  killed. 
While  some  of  his  followers  built  a  small  stockade  fort 
on  a  high  bluff  by  the  river,  others  ranged  the  woods  in 
pursuit  of  the  missing  hunter.  After  six  days  of  cease- 
less and  fruitless  search,  they  met  two  Chickasaw  Indians 
in  the  forest ;  and,  through  them,  La  Salle  sent  presents 
and  peace-messages  to  that  warlike  people,  whose  vil- 
lages were  a  few  days'  journey  distant.  Several  days 
later,  Prudhomme  was  found,  and  brought  in  to  the 


PARKMAN.  39 

camp,  half-dead.  He  had  lost  his  way  while  hunting; 
and,  to  console  him  for  his  woes,  La  Salle  christened  the 
newly  built  fort  with  his  name,  and  left  him,  with  a  few 
others,  in  charge  of  it. 

Again  they  embarked ;  and,  with  every  stage  of  their 
adventurous  progress,  the  mystery  of  this  vast  New 
World  was  more  and  more  unveiled.  More  and  more 
they  entered  the  realms  of  spring.  The  hazy  sunlight, 
the  warm  and  drowsy  air,  the  tender  foliage,  the  opening 
flowers,  betokened  the  reviving  life  of  Nature.  For 
several  days  more  they  followed  the  writhings  of  the 
great  river,  on  its  tortuous  course  through  wastes  of 
swamp  and  canebrake,  till  on  the  thirteenth  of  March 
they  found  themselves  wrapped  in  a  thick  fog.  Neither 
shore  was  visible ;  but  they  heard  on  the  right  the  boom- 
ing of  an  Indian  drum  and  the  shrill  outcries  of  the  war- 
dance.  La  Salle  at  once  crossed  to  the  opposite  side, 
where,  in  less  than  an  hour,  his  men  threw  up  a  rude 
fort  of  felled  trees.  Meanwhile,  the  fog  cleared  ;  and, 
from  the  farther  bank,  the  astonished  Indians  saw  the 
strange  visitors  at  their  work.  Some  of  the  French 
advanced  to  the  edge  of  the  water,  and  beckoned  them  to 
come  over.  Several  of  them  approached,  in  a  wooden 
canoe,  to  within  the  distance  of  a  gun-shot.  La  Salle 
displayed  the  calumet,  and  sent  a  Frenchman  to  meet 
them.  He  was  well  received  ;  and,  the  friendly  mood  of 
the  Indians  being  now  apparent,  the  whole  party  crossed 
the  river. 

On  landing,  they  found  themselves  at  a  town  of  the 
Kappa  band  of  the  Arkansas,  a  people  dwelling  near  the 
mouth  of  the  river  which  bears  their  name.  "  The  whole 
village,"  writes  Membre'  to  his  superior,  "  came  down  to 
the  shore  to  meet  us.  except  the  women,  who  had  run  off. 
I  cannot  tell  you  the  civility  and  kindness  we  received 
from  these  barbarians,  who  brought  us  poles  to  make 


40  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

huts,  supplied  us  with  firewood  during  the  three  days  we 
were  among  them,  and  took  turns  in  feasting  us.  But, 
my  Reverend  Father,  this  gives  no  idea  of  the  good  qual- 
ities of  these  savages,  who  are  gay,  civil,  and  free-hearted. 
The  young  men,  though  the  most  alert  and  spirited  we 
had  seen,  are  nevertheless  so  modest  that  not  one  of  them 
would  take  the  liberty  to  enter  our  hut,  but  all  stood 
quietly  at  the  door.  They  are  so  well  formed  that  we 
were  in  admiration  at  their  beauty.  We  did  not  lose  the 
value  of  a  pin  while  we  were  among  them." 

Various  were  the  dances  and  ceremonies  with  which 
they  entertained  the  strangers,  who,  on  their  part,  re- 
sponded with  a  solemnity  which  their  hosts  would  have 
liked  less  if  they  had  understood  it  better.  La  Salle  and 
Tonty,  at  the  head  of  their  followers,  marched  to  the 
open  area  in  the  midst  of  the  village.  Here,  to  the  ad- 
miration of  the  gazing  crowd  of  warriors,  women,  and 
children,  a  cross  was  raised  bearing  the  arms  of  France. 
Membre',  in  canonicals,  sang  a  hymn  ;  the  men  shouted 
Vive  le  Roi ;  and  La  Salle,  in  the  king's  name,  took 
formal  possession  of  the  country.  The  friar,  not,  he 
flatters  himself,  without  success,  labored  to  expound  by 
signs  the  mysteries  of  the  Faith ;  while  La  Salle,  by 
methods  equally  satisfactory,  drew  from  the  chief  an 
acknowledgment  of  fealty  to  Louis  XIV.1 

After  touching  at  several  other  towns  of  this  people, 
the  voyagers  resumed  their  course,  guided  by  two  of  the 

1  The  nation  of  the  Akanseas,  Alkansas.  or  Arkansas,  dwelt  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  Mississippi,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  They  were  di- 
vided into  four  tribes,  living  for  the  most  part  in  separate  villages.  Those 
first  visited  by  La  Salle  were  the  Kappas,  or  Quapaws.a  remnant  of  whom 
still  subsists.  The  others  were  the  Topingas,  or  Tongengas ;  the  Tori- 
mans  ;  and  the  Osotouoy,  or  Sauthouis.  According  to  Cliarlevoix,  who 
saw  them  in  1721,  they  were  regarded  as  the  tallest  and  best-formed  In- 
dians in  America,  and  were  known  as  les  Beaux  Homines.  Gravier  says 
that  they  once  lived  on  the  Ohio. 


PARKMAN.  41 

Arkansas ;  passed  the  sites,  since  become  historic,  of 
Vicksburg  and  Grand  Gulf;  and,  about  three  hundred 
miles  below  the  Arkansas,  stopped  by  the  edge  of  a 
swamp  on  the  western  side  of  the  river.1  Here,  as 
their  two  guides  told  them,  was  the  path  to  the  great 
town  of  the  Taensas.  Tonty  and  Membre*  were  sent  to 
visit  it.  They  and  their  men  shouldered  their  birch  canoe 
through  the  swamp,  and  launched  it  on  a  lake  which 
had  once  formed  a  portion  of  the  channel  of  the  river. 
In  two  hours,  they  reached  the  town ;  and  Tonty  gazed 
at  it  with  astonishment.  He  had  seen  nothing  like  it 
in  America :  large  square  dwellings,  built  of  sun-baked 
mud  mixed  with  straw,  arched  over  with  a  dome-shaped 
roof  of  canes,  and  placed  in  regular  order  around  an  open 
area.  Two  of  them  were  larger  and  better  than  the  rest. 
One  was  the  lodge  of  the  chief ;  the  other  was  the  temple, 
or  house,  of  the  Sun.  They  entered  the  former,  and  found 
a  single  room,  forty  feet  square,  where,  in  the  dim  light, 
—  for  there  was  no  opening  but  the  door,  —  the  chief  sat 
awaiting  them  on  a  sort  of  bedstead,  three  of  his  wives  at 
his  side,  while  sixty  old  men,  wrapped  in  white  cloaks 
woven  of  mulberry-bark,  formed  his  divan.  When  he 
spoke,  his  wives  howled  to  do  him  honor ;  and  the  as- 
sembled councillors  listened  with  the  reverence  due  to  a 
potentate  for  whom,  at  his  death,  a  hundred  victims  were 
to  be  sacrificed.  He  received  the  visitors  graciously,  and 
joyfully  accepted  the  gifts  which  Tonty  laid  before  him. 
This  interview  over,  the  Frenchmen  repaired  to  the  tem- 
ple, wherein  were  kept  the  bones  of  the  departed  chiefs. 


1  In  Tensas  County,  Louisiana.  Tonty's  estimates  of  distance  are  here 
much  too  low.  They  seem  to  be  founded  on  observations  of  latitude, 
without  reckoning  the  windings  of  the  river.  It  may  interest  sportsmen 
to  know  that  the  party  killed  several  large  alligators  on  their  way. 
Membre  is  much  astonished  that  such  monsters  should  be  born  of  eggs, 
like  chickens. 


42  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

Ill  construction,  it  was  much  like  the  royal  dwelling. 
Over  it  were  rude  wooden  figures,  representing  three 
eagles  turned  towards  the  east.  A  strong  mud  wall 
surrounded  it,  planted  with  stakes,  on  which  were  stuck 
the  skulls  of  enemies  sacrificed  to  the  Sun  ;  while  before 
the  door  was  a  block  of  wood,  on  which  lay  a  large  shell, 
surrounded  with  the  braided  hair  of  the  victims.  The  in- 
terior was  rude  as  a  barn,  dimly  lighted  from  the  door- 
way, and  full  of  smoke.  There  was  a  structure  in  the 
middle  which  Membre  thinks  was  a  kind  of  altar ;  and 
before  it  burned  a  perpetual  fire,  fed  with  three  logs  laid 
end  to  end,  and  watched  by  two  old  men  devoted  to  this 
sacred  office.  There  was  a  mysterious  recess,  too,  which 
the  strangers  were  forbidden  to  explore,  but  which,  as 
Tonty  was  told,  contained  the  riches  of  the  nation,  con- 
sisting of  pearls  from  the  Gulf,  and  trinkets  obtained, 
probably  through  other  tribes,  from  the  Spaniards  and 
other  Europeans. 

The  chief  condescended  to  visit  La  Salle  at  his  camp, 
—  a  favor  which  he  would  by  no  means  have  granted  had 
the  visitors  been  Indians.  A  master  of  ceremonies  and 
six  attendants  preceded  him,  to  clear  the  path  and  pre- 
pare the  place  of  meeting.  When  all  was  ready,  he  was 
seen  advancing,  clothed  in  a  white  robe,  and  preceded 
by  two  men  bearing  white  fans,  while  a  third  displayed 
a  disk  of  burnished  copper,  —  doubtless  to  represent  the 
Sun,  his  ancestor,  or,  as  others  will  have  it,  his  elder 
brother.  His  aspect  was  marvellously  grave,  and  he  and 
La  Salle  met  with  gestures  of  ceremonious  courtesy,  The 
interview  was  very  friendly ;  and  the  chief  returned  well 
pleased  with  the  gifts  which  his  entertainer  bestowed  on 
him,  and  which,  indeed,  had  been  the  principal  motive  of 
h?s  visit. 

On  the  next  morning,  as  they  descended  the  river,  they 
saw  a  wooden  canoe  full  of  Indians  ;  and  Tonty  gave 


PARKMAN.  43 

chase.  He  had  nearly  overtaken  it,  when  more  than  a 
hundred  men  appeared  suddenly  on  the  shore,  with  bows 
bent  to  defend  their  countrymen.  La  Salle  called  out  to 
Tonty  to  withdraw.  He  obeyed ;  and  the  whole  party  en- 
camped on  the  opposite  bank.  Tonty  offered  to  cross  the 
river  with  a  peace-pipe,  and  set  out  accordingly  with  a 
small  party  of  men.  When  he  landed,  the  Indians  made 
signs  of  friendship  by  joining  their  hands,  —  a  proceeding 
by  which  Tonty,  having  but  one  hand,  was  somewhat  em- 
barrassed ;  but  he  directed  his  men  to  respond  in  his  stead. 
La  Salle  and  Meinbre'  now  joined  him,  and  went  with  the 
Indians  to  their  village,  three  leagues  distant.  Here  they 
spent  the  night.  "  The  Sieur  de  la  Salle,"  writes  Membre', 
"  whose  very  air,  engaging  manners,  tact,  and  address 
attract  love  and  respect  alike,  produced  such  an  effect  on 
the  hearts  of  these  people  that  they  did  not  know  how  to 
treat  us  well  enough." 

The  Indians  of  this  village  were  the  Natchez  ;  and  their 
chief  was  brother  of  the  great  chief,  or  Sun,  of  the  whole 
nation.  His  town  was  several  leagues  distant,  near  the 
site  of  the  city  of  Natchez  ;  and  thither  the  French  re- 
paired to  visit  him.  They  saw  what  they  had  already 
seen  among  the  Taensas,  —  a  religious  and  political  des- 
potism, a  privileged  caste  descended  from  the  Sun,  a 
temple,  and  a  sacred  fire.  La  Salle  planted  a  large  cross, 
with  the  arms  of  France  attached,  in  the  midst  of  the 
town ;  while  the  inhabitants  looked  on  with  a  satisfaction 
which  they  would  hardly  have  displayed,  had  they  under- 
stood the  meaning  of  the  act. 

The  French  next  visited  the  Coroas,  at  their  village, 
two  leagues  below  ,  and  here  they  found  a  reception  no 
less  auspicious.  On  the  thirty-first  of  March,  as  they 
approached  Red  River,  they  passed  in  the  fog  a  town  of 
the  Oumas ;  and,  three  days  later,  discovered  a  party  of 
fishermen,  in  wooden  canoes,  among  the  canes  along 
the  margin  of  the  water.  They  fled  at  sight  of  the 


44  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

Frenchmen.  La  Salle  sent  men  to  reconnoitre,  who,  as 
they  struggled  through  the  marsh,  were  greeted  with  a 
shower  of  arrows  ;  while,  from  the  neighboring  village 
of  the  Quinipissas,1  invisible  behind  the  canebrake,  they 
heard  the  sound  of  an  Indian  drum  and  the  whoops  of 
the  mustering  warriors.  La  Salle,  anxious  to  keep  the 
peace  with  all  the  tribes  along  the  river,  recalled  his  men, 
and  pursued  his  voyage.  A  few  leagues  below,  they  saw 
a  cluster  of  Indian  lodges  on  the  left  bank,  apparently 
void  of  inhabitants.  They  landed,  and  found  three  of 
them  filled  with  corpses.  It  was  a  village  of  the  Tan- 
gibao,  sacked  by  their  enemies  only  a  few  days  before.2 

And  now  they  neared  their  journey's  end.  On  the 
sixth  of  April,  the  river  divided  itself  into  three  broad 
channels.  La  Salle  followed  that  of  the  west,  and 
D'Autray  that  of  the  east ;  while  Tonty  took  the  middle 
passage.  As  he  drifted  down  the  turbid  current,  between 
the  low  and  marshy  shores,  the  brackish  water  changed  to 
brine,  and  the  breeze  grew  fresh  with  the  salt  breath  of 
the  sea.  Then  the  broad  bosom  of  the  great  Gulf  opened 
on  his  sight,  tossing  its  restless  billows,  limitless,  voice- 
less, lonely  as  when  born  of  chaos,  without  a  sail,  without 
a  sign  of  life. 

La  Salle,  in  a  canoe,  coasted  the  marshy  borders  of  the 
sea ;  and  then  the  reunited  parties  assembled  on  a  spot  of 
dry  ground  a  short  distance  above  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
Here  a  column  was  made  ready,  bearing  the  arms  of 
France,  and  inscribed  with  the  words,  — 

Louis  LE    GRAND,    ROY    DE   FRANCE   ET    DE    NAVARRE, 

REGNE  ;    LE    NEUVIEME    AvRIL,    1682. 

The  Frenchmen  were  mustered  under  arms ;  and, 
while  the  New  England  Indians  and  their  squaws  looked 

1  In  St.  Charles  County,  on  the  left  bank,  not  far  above  New  Orleans. 

2  Hennepin  uses  this  incident,  as  well  as  most  of  those  which  have  pre- 
ceded it,  in  making  up  the  story  of  his  pretended  voyage  to  the  Gulf. 


PARKMAN.  45 

on  in  wondering  silence,  they  chanted  the  Te  Deum,  the 
Exaudiat,  and  the  Domine  salvum  fac  Regem.  Then, 
amid  volleys  of  musketry  and  shouts  of  Vive  le  Roi,  La 
Salle  planted  the  column  in  its  place,  and,  standing  near 
it,  proclaimed  in  a  loud  voice,  — 

"  In  the  name  of  the  most  high,  mighty,  invincible,  and 
victorious  Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  by  the  grace  of  God 
King  of  France  and  of  Navarre,  Fourteenth  of  that  name, 
I,  this  ninth  day  of  April,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and 
eighty-two,  in  virtue  of  the  commission  of  his  Majesty, 
which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and  which  may  be  seen  by  all 
whom  it  may  concern,  have  taken,  and  do  now  take,  in  the 
name  of  his  Majesty  and  of  his  successors  to  the  crown, 
possession  of  this  country  of  Louisiana,  the  seas,  harbors, 
ports,  bays,  adjacent  straits,  and  all  the  nations,  peoples, 
provinces,  cities,  towns,  villages,  mines,  minerals,  fish- 
eries, streams,  and  rivers,  within  the  extent  of  the  said 
Louisiana,  from  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  St.  Louis, 
otherwise  called  the  Ohio,  ...  as  also  along  the  river 
Colbert,  or  Mississippi,  and  the  rivers  which  discharge 
themselves  thereinto,  from  its  source  beyond  the  country 
of  the  Nadouessioux  ...  as  far  as  its  mouth  at  the  sea, 
or  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  also  to  the  mouth  of  the  River 
of  Palms,  upon  the  assurance  we  have  had  from  the  na- 
tives of  these  countries  that  we  are  the  first  Europeans 
who  have  descended  or  ascended  the  said  river  Colbert ; 
hereby  protesting  against  all  who  may  hereafter  under- 
take to  invade  any  or  all  of  these  aforesaid  countries, 
peoples,  or  lands,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rights  of  his 
Majesty,  acquired  by  the  consent  of  the  nations  dwelling 
herein.  Of  which,  and  of  all  else  that  is  needful,  I  hereby 
take  to  witness  those  who  hear  me,  and  demand  an  act  of 
the  notary  here  present." 

Shouts  of  Vive  le  Roi  and  volleys  of  musketry  re- 
sponded to  his  words.  Then  a  cross  was  planted  beside 


46  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

the  column,  and  a  leaden  plate  buried  near  it,  bearing 
the  arms  of  France,  with  a  Latin  inscription,  Ludovicus 
Magnus  regnat.  The  weather-beaten  voyagers  joined 
their  voices  in  the  grand  hymn  of  the  Vexilla  Regis : 

"  The  banners  of  Heaven's  King  advance, 
The  mystery  of  the  Cross  shines  fortli ;  " 

and  renewed  shouts  of  Vive  le  Hoi  closed  the  ceremony. 

On  that  day,  the  realm  of  France  received  on  parch- 
ment a  stupendous  accession.  The  fertile  plains  of  Texas ; 
the  vast  basin  of  the  Mississippi,  from  its  frozen  northern 
springs  to  the  sultry  borders  of  the  Gulf ;  from  the  woody 
ridges  of  the  Alleghanies  to  the  bare  peaks  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains,  —  a  region  of  savannahs  and  forests,  sun- 
cracked  deserts,  and  grassy  prairies,  watered  by  a  thou- 
sand rivers,  ranged  by  a  thousand  warlike  tribes,  passed 
beneath  the  sceptre  of  the  Sultan  of  Versailles ;  and  all 
by  virtue  of  a  feeble  human  voice,  inaudible  at  half  a 
mile.  —  From  "  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of  the  G-reat 
West"  chap.  xx. 


THE   CHAEACTER  OF  LA  SALLE. 


"  I  M3US  in  the  vigor  of  his  manhood,  at  the  age  of  forty- 
•*•  three,  died  Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle,  "  one  of  the 
greatest  men,"  writes  Touty,  "  of  this  age ; "  without 
question  one  of  the  most  remarkable  explorers  whose 
names  live  in  history.  His  faithful  officer  Joutel  thus 
sketches  his  portrait :  "  His  firmness,  his  courage,  his 
great  knowledge  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  which  made  him 
equal  to  every  undertaking,  and  his  untiring  energy,  which 
enabled  him  to  surmount  every  obstacle,  would  have  won 
at  last  a  glorious  success  for  his  grand  enterprise,  had  not 
all  his  fine  qualities  been  counterbalanced  by  a  haughti- 
ness of  manner  which  often  made  him  insupportable,  and 
by  a  harshness  towards  those  under  his  command  which 
drew  upon  him  an  implacable  hatred,  and  was  at  last  the 
cause  of  his  death." 

The  enthusiasm  of  the  disinterested  and  chivalrous 
Champlain  was  not  the  enthusiasm  of  La  Salle ;  nor  had 
he  any  part  in  the  self-devoted  zeal  of  the  early  Jesuit  ex- 
plorers. He  belonged  not  to  the  age  of  the  knight-errant 
and  the  saint,  but  to  the  modern  world  of  practical  study 
and  practical  action.  He  was  the  hero,  not  of  a  principle 
nor  of  a  faith,  but  simply  of  a  fixed  idea  and  a  determined 
purpose.  As  often  happens  with  concentred  and  ener- 
getic natures,  his  purpose  was  to  him  a  passion  and  an  in- 
spiration ;  and  he  clung  to  it  with  a  certain  fanaticism  of 


48  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

devotion.  It  was  the  offspring  of  an  ambition  vast  and 
comprehensive,  yet  acting  in  the  interest  both  of  France 
and  of  civilization. 

Serious  in  all  things,  incapable  of  the  lighter  pleasures, 
incapable  of  repose,  finding  no  joy  but  in  the  pursuit  of 
great  designs,  too  shy  for  society  and  too  reserved  for 
popularity,  often  unsympathetic  and  always  seeming  so, 
smothering  emotions  which  he  could  not  utter,  schooled 
to  universal  distrust,  stern  to  his  followers  and  pitiless  to 
himself,  bearing  the  brunt  of  every  hardship  and  every 
danger,  demanding  of  others  an  equal  constancy  joined  to 
an  implicit  deference,  heeding  no  counsel  but  his  own, 
attempting  the  impossible  and  grasping  at  what  was  too 
vast  to  hold,  —  he  contained  in  his  own  complex  and  pain- 
ful nature  the  chief  springs  of  his  triumphs,  his  failures, 
and  his  death,  s 

It  is  easy  to  reckon  up  his  defects,  but  it  is  not  easy  to 
hide  from  sight  the  Roman  virtues  that  redeemed  them. 
Beset  by  a  throng  of  enemies,  he  stands,  like  the  King  of 
Israel,  head  and  shoulders  above  them  all.  He  was  a  tower 
of  adamant  against  whose  impregnable  front  hardship  and 
danger,  the  rage  of  man  and  of  the  elements,  the  southern 
sun,  the  northern  blast,  fatigue,  famine  and  disease,  delay, 
disappointment  and  deferred  hope  emptied  their  quivers 
in  vain.  That  very  pride  which,  Coriolanus-like,  declared 
itself  most  sternly  in  the  thickest  press  of  foes,  has  in  it 
something  to  challenge  admiration.  Never,  under  the 
impenetrable  mail  of  paladin  or  crusader,  beat  a  heart  of 
more  intrepid  mettle  than  within  the  stoic  panoply  that 
armed  the  breast  of  La  Salle.  To  estimate  aright  the 
marvels  of  his  patient  fortitude,  one  must  follow  on  his 
track  through  the  vast  scene  of  his  interminable  journey- 
ings,  those  thousands  of  weary  miles  of  forest,  marsh,  and 
river,  where,  again  and  again,  in  the  bitterness  of  baffled 
striving,  the  untiring  pilgrim  pushed  onward  towards  the 


PARKMAN.  49 

goal  which  he  was  never  to  attain.  America  owes  him 
an  enduring  memory ;  for,  in  this  masculine  figure,  she 
sees  the  pioneer  who  guided  her  to  the  possession  of  her 
richest  heritage.  —  From  "  La  Salle  and  the  Discovery  of 
the  Great  West"  chap,  xxvii. 


THE   SEARCH  FOR   THE  PACIFIC. 


T  A  VERENDRYE,  fired  with  the  zeal  of  discovery, 
-*— '  offered  to  search  for  the  Western  Sea  if  the  King 
would  give  him  one  hundred  men  and  supply  canoes,  arms, 
and  provisions.  But,  as  was  usual  in  such  cases,  the  King 
would  give  nothing ;  and  though  the  Governor,  Beauhar- 
nois,  did  all  in  his  power  to  promote  the  enterprise,  the 
burden  and  the  risk  were  left  to  the  adventurer  himself. 
La  Ve'rendrye  was  authorized  to  find  a  way  to  the  Pacific 
at  his  own  expense,  in  consideration  of  a  monopoly  of  the 
fur-trade  in  the  regions  north  and  west  of  Lake  Superior. 
This  vast  and  remote  country  was  held  by  tribes  who  were 
doubtful  friends  of  the  French,  and  perpetual  enemies  of 
each  other.  The  risks  of  the  trade  were  as  great  as  its 
possible  profits,  and  to  reap  these,  vast  outlays  must  first 
be  made:  forts  must  be  built,  manned,  provisioned,  and 
stocked  with  goods  brought  through  two  thousand  miles 
of  difficult  and  perilous  wilderness.  There  were  other 
dangers,  more  insidious,  and  perhaps  greater.  The  ex- 
clusive privileges  granted  to  La  Ve'rendrye  would  in- 
evitably rouse  the  intensest  jealousy  of  the  Canadian 
merchants,  and  they  would  spare  no  effort  to  ruin  him. 
Intrigue  and  calumny  would  be  busy  in  his  absence.  If, 
as  was  likely,  his  patron,  Beauharnois,  should  be  recalled, 
the  new  governor  might  be  turned  against  him,  his  privi- 
leges might  be  suddenly  revoked,  the  forts  he  had  built 
passed  over  to  his  rivals,  and  all  his  outlays  turned  to  their 


52  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

profit,  as  had  happened  to  La  Salle  on  the  recall  of  his 
patron,  Frontenac.  On  the  other  hand,  the  country  was 
full  of  the  choicest  furs,  which  the  Indians  had  hitherto 
carried  to  the  English  at  Hudson  Bay,  but  which  the  pro- 
posed trading-posts  would  secure  to  the  French.  La  Ve"- 
rendrye's  enemies  pretended  that  he  thought  of  nothing 
but  beaver-skins,  and  slighted  the  discovery  which  he  had 
bound  himself  to  undertake ;  but  his  conduct  proves  that 
<C  he  was  true  to  his  engagements,  and  that  ambition  to  gain 
I  honorable  distinction  in  the  service  of  the  King  had  a 
large  place  among  the  motives  that  impelled  him. 

As  his  own  resources  were  of  the  smallest,  he  took  a 
number  of  associates  on  conditions  most  unfavorable  to 
himself.  Among  them  they  raised  money  enough  to  begin 
the  enterprise,  and  on  the  8th  of  June,  1731,  La  Yerendrye 
and  three  of  his  sons,  together  with  his  nephew,  La  Jeme- 
raye,  the  Jesuit  Messager,  and  a  party  of  Canadians,  set 
out  from  Montreal.  It  was  late  in  August  before  they 
reached  the  great  portage  of  Lake  Superior,  which  led 
across  the  height  of  land  separating  the  waters  of  that 
lake  from  those  flowing  to  Lake  Winnipeg.  The  way  was 
long  and  difficult.  The  men,  who  had  perhaps  been  tam- 
pered with,  mutinied,  and  refused  to  go  farther.  Some  of 
them,  with  much  ado,  consented  at  last  to  proceed,  and, 
under  the  lead  of  La  Jemeraye,  made  their  way  by  an 
intricate  and  broken  chain  of  lakes  and  streams  to  Rainy 
Lake,  where  they  built  a  fort  and  called  it  Fort  St.  Pierre. 
La  Ve"rendrye  was  forced  to  winter  with  the  rest  of  the 
party  at  the  river  Kaministiguia,  not  far  from  the  great 
portage.  Here  months  were  lost,  during  which  a  crew  of 
useless  mutineers  had  to  be  fed  and  paid ;  and  it  was  not 
till  the  next  June  that  he  could  get  them  again  into  motion 
towards  Lake  Winnipeg. 

This  omnious  beginning  was  followed  by  a  train  of  dis- 
asters. His  associates  abandoned  him  ;  the  merchants  on 


PARKMAN.  53 

whom  he  depended  for  supplies  would  not  send  them ;  and 
he  found  himself,  in  his  own  words,  "  destitute  of  every- 
thing." His  nephew,  La  Jemeraye,  died.  The  Jesuit 
Auneau,  bent  on  returning  to  Michillimackinac,  set  out 
with  La  Ve'rendrye's  eldest  son  and  a  party  of  twenty 
Canadians.  A  few  days  later,  they  were  all  found  on  an 
island  in  the  Lake  of  the  Woods,  murdered  and  mangled 
by  the  Sioux.  The  Assinniboins  and  Cristineaux,  mortal 
foes  of  that  fierce  people,  offered  to  join  the  French  and 
avenge  the  butchery ;  but  a  war  with  the  Sioux  would 
have  ruined  La  Ve'rendrye's  plans  of  discovery,  and  ex- 
posed to  torture  and  death  the  French  traders  in  their 
country.  Therefore  he  restrained  himself  and  declined 
the  proffered  aid,  at  the  risk  of  incurring  the  contempt  of 
those  who  offered  it. 

Beauharnois  twice  appealed  to  the  court  to  give  La 
VeVendrye  some  little  aid,  urging  that  he  was  at  the  end 
of  his  resources,  and  that  a  grant  of  30,000  francs,  or 
6,000  dollars,  would  enable  him  to  find  a  way  to  the 
Pacific.  All  help  was  refused,  but  La  Vdrendrye  was  told 
that  he  might  let  out  his  forts  to  other  traders,  and  so 
raise  means  to  pursue  the  discovery. 

In  1740  he  went  for  the  third  time  to  Montreal,  where, 
instead  of  aid,  he  found  a  lawsuit.  "  In  spite,"  he  says, 
"  of  the  derangement  of  my  affairs,  the  envy  and  jealousy 
of  various  persons  impelled  them  to  write  letters  to  the 
court  insinuating  that  I  thought  of  nothing  but  making  my 
fortune.  If  more  than  forty  thousand  livrcs  of  debt  which 
I  have  on  my  shoulders  are  an  advantage,  then  I  can  flat- 
ter myself  that  I  am  very  rich.  In  all  my  misfortunes,  I 
have  the  consolation  of  seeing  that  M.  de  Beauharnois 
enters  into  my  views,  recognizes  the  uprightness  of  my 
intentions,  and  does  me  justice  in  spite  of  opposition." 

Meanwhile,  under  all  his  difficulties,  he  had  explored  a 
vast  region  hitherto  unknown,  diverted  a  great  and  lucra- 


54  LEAFLETS   PROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

tive  fur-trade  from  the  English  at  Hudson  Bay,  and  se- 
cured possession  of  it  by  six  fortified  posts,  —  Fort  St. 
Pierre,  on  Rainy  Lake ;  Port  St.  Charles,  on  the  Lake  of 
the  Woods ;  Fort  Maurepas,  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Winnipeg;  Fort  Bourbon,  on  the  eastern  side  of  Lake 
Winnipeg ;  Fort  La  Reine,  on  the  Assinniboin  ;  Fort 
Dauphin,  on  Lake  Manitoba.  Besides  these  he  built  an- 
other post,  called  Fort  Rouge,  on  the  site  of  the  city  of 
Winnipeg;  and,  some  time  after,  another,  at  the  mouth 
of  the  River  Poskoiac,  or  Saskatchawan,  neither  of  which, 
however,  was  long  occupied.  These  various  forts  were 
only  stockade  works  flanked  with  block -houses ;  but  the 
difficulty  of  building  and  maintaining  them  in  this  remote 
wilderness  was  incalulable. 

He  had  inquired  on  all  sides  for  the  Pacific.  The  As- 
sinniboins  could  tell  him  nothing.  Nor  could  any  infor- 
mation be  expected  from  them,  since  their  relatives  and 
mortal  enemies,  the  Sioux,  barred  their  way  to  the  West. 
The  Cristineaux  were  equally  ignorant ;  but  they  supplied 
the  place  of  knowledge  by  invention,  and  drew  maps,  some 
of  which  seem  to  have  been  made  with  no  other  intention 
than  that  of  amusing  themselves  by  imposing  on  the  in- 
quirer. They  also  declared  that  some  of  their  number 
had  gone  down  a  river  called  White  River,  or  River  of  the 
West,  where  they  found  a  plant  that  shed  drops  like  blood, 
and  saw  serpents  of  prodigious  size.  They  said,  furl  her 
that  on  the  lower  part  of  this  river  were  walled  towns, 
where  dwelt  white  men  who  had  knives,  hatchets,  and 
cloth,  but  no  firearms. 

Both  Assinniboins  and  Cristineaux  declared  that  there 
was  a  distant  tribe  on  the  Missouri,  called  Mantannes 
(Mandans),  who  knew  the  way  to  the  Western  Sea,  and 
would  guide  him  to  it.  Lured  by  this  assurance,  and 
feeling  that  he  had  sufficiently  secured  his  position  to 
enable  him  to  begin  his  Western  exploration,  La  Ve'ren- 


PARKMAN.  55 

diye  left  Fort  La  Reine  in  October,  1738,  with  twenty 
men,  and  pushed  up  the  River  Assinniboin  till  its  rapids 
and  shallows  threatened  his  bark  canoes  with  destruction. 
Then,  with  a  band  of  Assinniboin  Indians  who  had  joined 
him,  he  struck  across  the  prairie  for  the  Mandans,  his 
Indian  companions  hunting  buffalo  on  the  way.  They 
approached  tbe  first  Mandan  village  on  the  afternoon  of 
the  3d  of  December,  displaying  a  French  flag  and  firing 
three  volleys  as  a  salute.  The  whole  population  poured 
out  to  see  the  marvellous  visitors,  who  were  conducted 
through  the  staring  crowd  to  the  lodge  of  the  principal 
chief,  —  a  capacious  structure  so  thronged  with  the  naked 
and  greasy  savages  that  the  Frenchmen  were  half  smoth- 
ered. What  was  worse,  they  lost  the  bag  that  held 
all  their  presents  for  the  Mandans,  which  was  snatched 
away  in  the  confusion,  and  hidden  in  one  of  the  caches, 
called  cellars  by  La  Ve>endrye,  of  which  the  place  was 
full.  The  chief  seemed  much  discomposed  at  this  mishap, 
and  explained  it  by  saying  that  there  were  many  rascals 
in  the  village.  The  loss  was  serious,  since  without  the 
presents  nothing  could  be  done.  Nor  was  this  all ;  for  in 
the  morning  La  Vdrendrye  missed  his  interpreter,  and 
was  told  that  he  had  fallen  in  love  with  an  Assinniboin 
girl,  and  gone  off  in  pursuit  of  her.  The  French  were  now 
without  any  means  of  communicating  with  the  Mandans, 
from  whom,  however,  before  the  disappearance  of  the 
interpreter,  they  had  already  received  a  variety  of  ques- 
tionable information,  chiefly  touching  white  men  cased 
in  iron  who  were  said  to  live  on  the  river  below  at  the 
distance  of  a  whole  summer's  journey.  As  they  were  im- 
pervious to  arrows, —  so  the  story  ran,  —  it  was  necessary 
to  shoot  their  horses,  after  which,  being  too  heavy  to  run, 
they  were  easily  caught.  This  was  probably  suggested  by 
the  armor  of  the  Spaniards,  who  had  more  than  once  made 
incursions  as  far  as  the  lower  Missouri :  but  the  narra- 


56  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

tors  drew  on  their  imagination  for  various  additional 
particulars. 

The  Mandans  seem  to  have  much  declined  in  numbers 
during  the  century  that  followed  this  visit  of  La  Veren- 
drye.  He  says  that  they  had  six  villages  on  or  near  the 
Missouri,  of  whicli  the  one  seen  by  him  was  the  smallest, 
though  he  thinks  that  it  contained  a  hundred  and  thirty 
houses.  As  each  of  these  large  structures  held  a  number 
of  families,  the  population  must  have  been  considerable. 
Yet  when  Prince  Maximilian  visited  the  Mandans  in  1833, 
he  found  only  two  villages,  containing  jointly  two  hundred 
and  forty  warriors  and  a  total  population  of  about  a  thou- 
sand souls.  Without  having  seen  the  statements  of  La 
Ve'rendrye,  he  speaks  of  the  population  as  greatly  reduced 
by  wars  and  the  small-pox,  —  a  disease  which  a  few  years 
later  nearly  exterminated  the  tribe.1 

La  Ve'rendrye  represents  the  six  villages  as  surrounded 
with  ditches  and  stockades,  flanked  by  a  sort  of  bastion, 
—  defences  which,  he  says,  had  nothing  savage  in  their 
construction.  In  later  times  the  fortifications  were  of  a 
much  ruder  kind,  though  Maximilian  represents  them  as 
having  pointed  salients  to  serve  as  bastions.  La  Veren- 
drye  mentions  some  peculiar  customs  of  the  Mandans 
which  answer  exactly  to  those  described  by  more  recent 
observers. 

He  had  intended  to  winter  with  the  tribe ;  but  the  loss 

1  Le  Prince  Maximilien  cle  Wied-Neuwied,  Voyage  dans  I'lnte'rieur  de 
I'Ame'rique  du  Nord,  II.  371,  372  (Paris,  1843).  When  Captains  Lewis  and 
Clark  visited  the  Mandans  in  1804,  they  found  them  in  two  villages,  with 
about  three  hundred  and  fifty  warriors.  They  report  that,  about  forty 
years  before,  they  lived  in  nine  villages,  the  ruins  of  which  the  explorers 
saw  about  eighty  miles  below  the  two  villages  then  occupied  by  the  tribe 
The  Mandans  had  moved  up  the  river  in  consequence  of  the  persecutions 
of  the  Sioux  and  the  small-pox,  which  had  made  great  havoc  among  them. 
Expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clark,  I.  129  (ed.  Philadelphia,  1814).  These  nine 
villages  seem  to  have  been  above  Cannon-ball  River,  a  tributary  of  the 
Missouri. 


PARKMAN.  57 

of  the  presents  and  the  interpreter  made  it  useless  to  stay, 
and  leaving  two  men  in  the  village  to  learn  the  language, 
he  began  his  return  to  Fort  La  Reine.  "  I  was  very  ill," 
he  writes,  "  but  hoped  to  get  better  on  the  way.  The  re- 
verse was  the  case,  for  it  was  the  depth  of  winter.  It 
would  be  impossible  to  suffer  more  than  I  did.  It  seemed 
that  nothing  but  death  could  release  us  from  such  miser- 
ies." He  reached  Fort  La  Reine  on  the  llth  of  February, 
1739. 

His  iron  constitution  seems  to  have  been  severely 
shaken  ;  but  he  had  sons  worthy  of  their  father.  The 
two  men  left  among  the  Mandans  appeared  at  Fort  La 
Reine  in  September.  They  reported  that  they  had  been 
well  treated,  and  that  their  hosts  had  parted  from  them 
with  regret.  They  also  declared  that  at  the  end  of  spring 
several  Indian  tribes,  all  well  supplied  with  horses,  had 
come,  as  was  their  yearly  custom,  to  the  Mandan  villages 
to  barter  embroidered  buffalo  hides  and  other  skins  for 
corn  and  beans ;  that  they  had  encamped,  to  the  number 
of  tvo  hundred  lodges,  on  the  farther  side  of  the  Missouri; 
and  that  among  them  was  a  band  said  to  have  come  from 
a  distant  country  towards  the  sunset,  where  there  were 
white  men  who  lived  in  houses  built  of  bricks  and  stones. 

The  two  Frenchmen  crossed  over  to  the  camp  of  these 
Western  strangers,  among  whom  they  found  a  chief  who 
spoke,  or  professed  to  speak,  the  language  of  the  myste- 
rious white  men,  which  to  the  two  Frenchmen  was  unin- 
telligible. Fortunately,  he  also  spoke  the  language  of  the 
Mandans,  of  which  the  Frenchmen  had  learned  a  little 
during  their  stay,  and  hence  were  able  to  gather  that  the 
white  men  in  question  had  beards,  and  that  they  prayed 
to  the  Master  of  Life  in  great  houses  built  for  the  purpose, 
holding  books,  the  leaves  of  which  were  like  husks  of 
Indian  corn,  singing  together  and  repeating  Jgsus,  Marie. 
The  chief  gave  many  other  particulars,  which  seemed  to 


58  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

show  that  he  had  been  in  contact  with  Spaniards,  —  prob- 
ably those  of  California  ;  for  he  described  their  houses  as 
standing  near  the  great  lake,  of  which  the  water  rises  and 
falls  and  is  not  fit  to  drink.  He  invited  the  two  French- 
men to  go  with  him  to  this  strange  country,  saying  that  it 
could  be  reached  before  winter,  though  a  wide  circuit  must 
be  made,  to  avoid  a  fierce  and  dangerous  tribe  called  Snake 
Indians  (G-ens  du  Serpent). 

On  hearing  this  story,  La  Verendrye  sent  his  eldest  son, 
Pierre,  to  pursue  the  discovery  with  two  men,  ordering 
him  to  hire  guides  among  the  Mandans  and  make  his  way 
to  the  Western  Sea.  But  no  guides  were  to  be  found, 
and  in  the  next  summer  the  young  man  returned  from  his 
bootless  errand. 

Undaunted  by  this  failure,  Pierre  set  out  again  in  the 
next  spring,  1742,  with  his  younger  brother,  the  Chevalier 
de  la  Ve'rendrye.  Accompanied  only  by  two  Canadians, 
they  left  Fort  La  Reine  on  the  29th  of  April,  and  following, 
no  doubt,  the  route  of  the  Assinniboin  and  Mouse  River, 
reached  the  chief  village  of  the  Mandans  in  about  three 
weeks. 

Here  they  found  themselves  the  welcome  guests  of 
this  singularly  interesting  tribe,  ruined  by  the  small- 
pox nearly  half  a  century  ago,  but  preserved  to  memory 
by  the  skilful  pencil  of  the  artist  Charles  Bodmer,  and 
the  brush  of  the  painter  George  Catlin,  both  of  whom 
saw  them  at  a  time  when  they  were  little  changed  in 
habits  and  manners  since  the  visit  of  the  brothers  La 
Verendrye.1 

1  Prince  Maximilian  spent  the  winter  of  1832-33  near  the  Mandan 
villages.  His  artist,  with  the  instinct  of  genius,  seized  the  characteristics 
of  the  wild  life  before  him,  and  rendered  them  with  admirable  vigor  and 
truth.  Catlin  spent  a  considerable  time  among  the  Mandans  soon  after 
the  visit  of  Prince  Maximilian,  and  had  unusual  opportunities  of  studying 
them.  He  was  an  indifferent  painter,  a  shallow  observer,  and  a  garrulous 
and  windy  writer ;  yet  his  enthusiastic  industry  is  beyond  praise,  and  his 


PARKMAN.  59 

Thus,  though  the  report  of  the  two  brothers  is  too 
concise  and  brief,  we  know  what  they  saw  when  they 
entered  the  central  area,  or  public  square,  of  the  village. 
Around  stood  the  Mandan  lodges,  looking  like  round 
flattened  hillocks  of  earth,  forty  or  fifty  feet  wide.  On 
examination  they  proved  to  be  framed  of  strong  posts 
and  poles,  covered  with  a  thick  matting  of  intertwined 
willow-branches,  over  which  was  laid  a  bed  of  well-com- 
pacted clay  or  earth  two  or  three  feet  thick.  This  heavy 
roof  was  supported  by  strong  interior  posts.1  The  open 
place  which  the  dwellings  enclosed  served  for  games, 
dances,  and  the  ghastly  religious  or  magical  ceremonies 
practised  by  the  tribe.  Among  the  other  structures  was 
the  sacred  "  medicine  lodge,"  distinguished  by  three  or 
four  tall  poles  planted  before  it,  each  surmounted  by  an 
effigy  looking  much  like  a  scarecrow,  and  meant  as  an 
offering  to  the  spirits. 

If  the  two  travellers  had  been  less  sparing  of  words, 
they  would  doubtless  have  told  us  that  as  they  entered 
the  village  square  the  flattened  earthen  domes  that  sur- 
rounded it  were  thronged  with  squaws  and  children,  — 
for  this  was  always  the  case  on  occasions  of  public  inter- 
est, —  and  that  they  were  forced  to  undergo  a  merciless 
series  of  feasts  in  the  lodges  of  the  chiefs.  Here,  seated 
by  the  sunken  hearth  in  the  middle,  under  the  large  hole 
in  the  roof  that  served  both  for  window  and  chimney, 
they  could  study  at  their  ease  the  domestic  economy  of 
their  entertainers.  Each  lodge  held  a  yens,  or  family 


pictures  are  invaluable  as  faithful  reflections  of  aspects  of  Indian  life 
which  are  pone  forever. 

Beauharnois  calls  the  Mandans  Blancs  Borbiis,  and  says  that  they  have 
been  hitherto  unknown.  Beanharnoi*  au  Ministrc,  14  An\t>,  1739.  The 
name  Mantannes,  or  Mandans,  is  that  given  them  by  the  Agginniboins. 

1  The  Minnetarees  and  other  tribes  of  the  Missouri  built  their  lodges 
in  a  similar  way. 


60  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

connection,  whose  beds  of  raw  buffalo  hide,  stretched 
on  poles,  were  ranged  around  the  circumference  of  the 
building,  while  by  each  stood  a  post  on  which  hung 
shields,  lances,  bows,  quivers,  inedicine-bags,  and  masks 
formed  of  the  skin  of  a  buffalo's  head,  with  the  horns 
attached,  to  be  used  in  the  magic  buffalo  dance. 

Every  day  had  its  sports  to  relieve  the  monotony  of 
savage  existence,  the  game  of  the  stick  and  the  rolling 
ring,  the  archery  practice  of  boys,  horse-racing  on  the 
neighboring  prairie,  and  incessant  games  of  chance  ; 
while  every  evening,  in  contrast  to  these  gayeties,  the 
long,  dismal  wail  of  women  rose  from  the  adjacent  ceme 
tery,  where  the  dead  of  the  village,  sewn  fast  in  buffalo 
hides,  lay  on  scaffolds  above  the  reach  of  wolves. 

The  Mandans  did  not  know  the  way  to  the  Pacific, 
but  they  told  the  brothers  that  they  expected  a  speedy 
visit  from  a  tribe  or  band  called  Horse  Indians,  who 
could  guide  them  thither.  It  is  impossible  to  identify 
this  people  with  any  certainty.1  The  two  travellers 
waited  for  them  in  vain  till  after  midsummer,  and  then, 
as  the  season  was  too  far  advanced  for  longer  delay,  they 
hired  two  Mandans  to  conduct  them  to  their  customary 
haunts. 

They  set  out  on  horseback,  their  scanty  baggage  and 
their  stock  of  presents  being  no  doubt  carried  by  pack- 
animals.  Their  general  course  was  west-southwest,  with 
the  Black  Hills  at  a  distance  on  their  left,  and  the  upper 
Missouri  on  their  right.  The  country  was  a  rolling 
prairie,  well  covered  for  the  most  part  with  grass,  and 
watered  by  small  alkaline  streams  creeping  towards  the 

1  The  Clieyennes  have  a  tradition  that  they  were  the  first  tribe  of  this 
region  to  have  horses.  This  may  perhaps  justify  a  conjecture  that  the 
northern  division  of  this  brave  and  warlike  people  were  the  Florse  Indians 
of  La  Verendrye ;  though  an  Indian  tradition,  unless  backed  by  well- 
established  facts,  can  never  be  accepted  as  substantial  evidence. 


PARKMAN.  61 

Missouri  with  an  opaque,  whitish  current.  Except  along 
the  watercourses,  there  was  little  or  no  wood.  "  I  no- 
ticed," says  the  Chevalier  de  la  Ve'rendrye,  "  earths  of 
different  colors,  blue,  green,  red,  or  black,  white  as  chalk, 
or  yellowish  like  ochre."  This  was  probably  in  the  "  bad 
lands  "  of  the  Little  Missouri,  where  these  colored  earths 
form  a  conspicuous  feature  in  the  bare  and  barren  bluffs, 
carved  into  fantastic  shapes  by  the  storms.1 

For  twenty  days  the  travellers  saw  no  human  being,  so 
scanty  was  the  population  of  these  plains.  Game,  how- 
ever, was  abundant.  Deer  sprang  from  the  tall,  reedy 
grass  of  the  river  bottoms ;  buffalo  tramped  by  in  ponder- 
ous columns,  or  dotted  the  swells  of  the  distant  prairie 
with  their  grazing  thousands ;  antelope  approached,  with 
the  curiosity  of  their  species,  to  gaze  at  the  passing  horse- 
men, then  fled  like  the  wind  ;  and  as  they  neared  the  broken 
uplands  towards  the  Yellowstone,  they  saw  troops  of  elk 
and  flocks  of  mountain-sheep.  Sometimes,  for  miles 
together,  the  dry  plain  was  studded  thick  with  the 
earthen  mounds  that  marked  the  burrows  of  the  curious 
marmots,  called  prairie-dogs,  from  their  squeaking  bark. 
Wolves,  white  and  gray,  howled  about  the  camp  at  night, 
and  their  cousin,  the  coyote,  seated  in  the  dusk  of  even- 
ing upright  on  the  grass,  with  nose  turned  to  the  sky, 
saluted  them  with  a  complication  of  yelpings,  as  if  a 
score  of  petulant  voices  were  pouring  together  from  the 
throat  of  one  small  beast. 

On  the  llth  of  August,  after  a  march  of  about  three 
weeks,  the  brothers  reached  a  hill,  or  group  of  hills, 
apparently  west  of  the  Little  Missouri,  and  perhaps  a 
part  of  the  Powder  River  Range.  It  was  here  that  they 
hoped  to  find  the  Horse  Indians,  but  nobody  was  to  be 
seen.  Arming  themselves  with  patience,  they  built  a 

1  A  similar  phenomenon  occurs  farther  west  on  the  face  of  the  perpen- 
dicular bluffs  that,  in  one  place,  bonier  the  valley  of  the  river  Rosebud. 


62  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

hut,  made  fires  to  attract  by  the  smoke  any  Indians  roam- 
ing near,  and  went  every  day  to  the  tops  of  the  hills  to 
reconnoitre.  At  length,  on  the  14th  of  September,  they 
descried  a  spire  of  smoke  on  the  distant  prairie. 

One  of  their  Mandan  guides  had  left  them  and  gone 
back  to  his  village.  The  other,  with  one  of  the  French- 
men, went  towards  the  smoke,  and  found  a  camp  of 
Indians,  whom  the  journal  calls  Les  Beaux  Homines, 
and  who  were  probably  Crows,  or  Apsaroka,  a  tribe  re- 
markable for  stature  and  symmetry,  who  long  claimed  that 
region  as  their  own.  They  treated  the  visitors  well,  and 
sent  for  the  other  Frenchmen  to  come  to  their  lodges,  where 
they  were  received  with  great  rejoicing.  The  remaining 
Mandan,  however,  became  frightened,  —  for  the  Beaux 
Homines  were  enemies  of  his  tribe,  —  and  he  soon  fol- 
lowed his  companion  on  his  solitary  march  homeward. 

The  brothers  remained  twenty-one  days  in  the  camp 
of  the  Beaux  Honimes,  much  perplexed  for  want  of  an 
interpreter.  The  tribes  of  the  plains  have  in  common  a 
system  of  signs  by  which  they  communicate  with  each 
other,  and  it  is  likely  that  the  brothers  had  learned  it 
from  the  Sioux  or  Assinniboins,  with  whom  they  had 
been  in  familiar  intercourse.  By  this  or  some  other 
means  they  made  their  hosts  understand  that  they  wished 
to  find  the  Horse  Indians ;  and  the  Beaux  Hommes, 
being  soothed  by  presents,  offered  some  of  their  young 
men  as  guides.  They  set  out  on  the  9th  of  October, 
following  a  south-southwest  course. 

In  two  days  they  met  a  band  of  Indians,  called  by 
them  the  Little  Foxes,  and  on  the  15th  and  17th  two 
villages  of  another  unrecognizable  horde,  named  Pioya. 
From  La  Ve'rendrye's  time  to  our  own,  this  name  "  vil- 
lages "  has  always  been  given  to  the  encampments  of 
the  wandering  people  of  the  plains.  All  these  nomadic 
communities  joined  them,  and  they  moved  together  south- 


PARKMAN.  63 

ward,  till  they  reached  at  last  the  lodges  of  the  long- 
sought  Horse  Indians.  They  found  them  in  the  extremity 
of  distress  and  terror.  Their  camp  resounded  with  howls 
and  wailings ;  and  not  without  cause,  for  the  Snakes,  or 
Shoshones,  —  a  formidable  people  living  farther  west- 
ward, —  had  lately  destroyed  most  of  their  tribe.  The 
Snakes  were  the  terror  of  that  country.  The  brothers 
were  told  that  the  year  before  they  had  destroyed  seven- 
teen villages,  killing  the .  warriors  and  old  women,  and 
carrying  off  the  young  women  and  children  as  slaves. 

None  of  the  Horse  Indians  had  ever  seen  the  Pacific  ; 
but  they  knew  a  people  called  Gens  de  1'Arc,  or  Bow 
Indians,  who,  as  they  said,  had  traded  not  far  from  it. 
To  the  Bow  Indians,  therefore,  the  brothers  resolved  to 
go,  and  by  dint  of  gifts  and  promises  they  persuaded 
their  hosts  to  show  them  the  way.  After  marching 
southwestward  for  several  days,  they  saw  the  distant 
prairie  covered  with  the  pointed  buffalo-skin  lodges  of  a 
great  Indian  camp.  It  was  that  of  the  Bow  Indians, 
who  may  have  been  one  of  the  bands  of  the  western 
Sioux,  —  the  predominant  race  in  this  region.  Few  or 
none  of  them  could  ever  have  seen  a  white  man,  and 
we  may  imagine  their  amazement  at  the  arrival  of  the 
strangers,  who,  followed  by  staring  crowds,  were  con- 
ducted to  the  lodge  of  the  chief.  "  Thus  far,"  says  La 
VeVendrye,  "  we  had  been  well  received  in  all  the  villages 
we  had  passed ;  but  this  was  nothing  compared  with 
the  courteous  manners  of  the  great  chief  of  the  Bow  In- 
dians, who,  unlike  the  others,  was  not  self-interested  in 
the  least,  and  who  took  excellent  care  of  everything 
belonging  to  us." 

The  first  inquiry  of  the  travellers  was  for  the  Pacific  ; 
but  neither  the  chief  nor  his  tribesmen  knew  anything  of 
it,  except  what  they  had  heard  from  Snake  prisoners  taken 
in  war.  The  Frenchmen  were  surprised  at  the  extent  of 


64  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

the  camp,  which  consisted  of  many  separate  bands.  The 
chief  explained  that  they  had  been  summoned  from  far 
and  near  for  a  grand  war-party  against  that  common  foe 
of  all,  —  the  Snakes.1  In  fact,  the  camp  resounded  with 
war-songs  and  war-dances.  "  Come  with  us,"  said  their 
host ;  "  we  are  going  towards  the  mountains,  where  you 
can  see  the  great  water  that  you  are  looking  for." 

At  length  the  camp  broke  up.  The  squaws  took  down 
the  lodges,  and  the  march  began  over  prairies  dreary  and 
brown  with  the  withering  touch  of  autumn.  The  spec- 
tacle was  such  as  men  still  young  have  seen  in  these 
Western  lands,  but  which  no  man  will  see  again.  The 
vast  plain  swarmed  with  the  moving  multitude.  The 
tribes  of  the  Missouri  and  the  Yellowstone  had  by  this 
time  abundance  of  horses,  the  best  of  which  were  used 
for  war  and  hunting,  and  the  others  as  beasts  of  burden. 
These  last  were  equipped  in  a  peculiar  manner.  Several 
of  the  long  poles  used  to  frame  the  teepees,  or  lodges, 
were  secured  by  one  end  to  each  side  of  a  rude  saddle, 
while  the  other  end  trailed  on  the  ground.  Crossbars 
lashed  to  the  poles  just  behind  the  horse  kept  them  three 
or  four  feet  apart,  and  formed  a  firm  support,  on  which 
was  laid,  compactly  folded,  the  buffalo-skin  covering  of 
the  lodge.  On  this,  again,  sat  a  mother  with  her  young 
family,  sometimes  stowed  for  safety  in  a  large  open  wil- 
low basket,  with  the  occasional  addition  of  some  domestic 
pet,  —  such  as  a  tame  raven,  a  puppy,  or  even  a  small 
bear  cub.  Other  horses  were  laden  in  the  same  manner 
with  wooden  bowls,  stone  hammers,  and  other  utensils, 
along  with  stores  of  dried  buffalo-meat  packed  in  cases  of 


1  The  enmity  between  the  Sioux  and  the  Snakes  lasted  to  our  own  time. 
When  the  writer  lived  among  the  western  Sioux,  one  of  their  chiefs  organ- 
ized a  war-party  against  the  Snakes,  and  numerous  bands  came  to  join  the 
expedition  from  a  distance  in  some  cases  of  three  hundred  miles.  Quarrels 
broke  out  among  them,  and  the  scheme  was  ruined. 


PARKMAN.  65 

rawhide  whitened  and  painted.  Many  of  the  innumerable 
dogs  —  whose  manners  and  appearance  strongly  suggested 
their  relatives  the  wolves,  to  whom,  however,  they  bore 
a  mortal  grudge  —  were  equipped  in  a  similar,  way,  with 
shorter  poles  and  lighter  loads.  Bands  of  naked  boys, 
noisy  and  restless,  roamed  the  prairie,  practising  their 
bows  and  arrows  on  any  small  animal  they  might  find. 
Gay  young  squaws  —  adorned  on  each  cheek  with  a  spot 
of  ochre  or  red  clay,  and  arrayed  in  tunics  of  fringed 
buckskin  embroidered  with  porcupine  quills  —  were 
mounted  on  ponies,  astride  like  men  ;  while  lean  and 
tattered  hags  —  the  drudges  of  the  tribe,  unkempt  and 
hideous  —  scolded  the  lagging  horses,  or  screeched  at  the 
disorderly  dogs,  with  voices  not  unlike  the  yell  of  the 
great  horned  owl.  Most  of  the  warriors  were  on  horse- 
back, armed  with  round  white  shields  of  bull-hide,  feath- 
ered lances,  war-clubs,  bows,  and  quivers  filled  with 
stone-headed  arrows ;  while  a  few  of  the  elders,  wrapped 
in  robes  of  buffalo-hide,  stalked  along  in  groups  with 
a*  stately  air,  chatting,  laughing,  and  exchanging  un- 
seemly jokes.1 

"  We  continued  our  march,"  says  La  Ve"rendrye, 
"  sometimes  south-southwest,  and  now  and  then  north- 
west; our  numbers  constantly  increasing  by  villages  of 
different  tribes  which  joined  us."  The  variations  of 
their  course  were  probably  due  to  the  difficulties  of  the 
country,  which  grew  more  rugged  as  they  advanced, 
with  broken  hills,  tracts  of  dingy  green  sage-bushes,  and 
bright,  swift  streams,  edged  with  cottonwood  and  willow, 
hurrying  northward  to  join  the  Yellowstone.  At  length, 
on  the  1st  of  January,  1743,  they  saw  what  was  probably 

1  The  above  descriptive  particulars  are  drawn  from  repeated  observa- 
tion of  similar  scenes  at  a  time  when  the  primitive  condition  of  these  tribes 
was  essentially  unchanged,  though  with  the  difference  that  the  concourse 
of  savages  counted  by  hundreds,  and  not  by  thousands. 

5 


66  LEAFLETS  FROM    STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

the  Bighorn  Range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  a  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  east  of  the  Yellowstone  Park. 

A  council  of  all  the  allied  bauds  was  now  called,  and 
the  Frenchmen  were  asked  to  take  part  in  it.  The  ques- 
tions discussed  were  how  to  dispose  of  the  women  and 
children,  and  how  to  attack  the  enemy.  Having  settled 
their  plans,  the  chiefs  begged  their  white  friends  not  to 
abandon  them  ;  and  the  younger  of  the  two,  the  Chevalier, 
consented  to  join  the  warriors,  and  aid  them  with  advice, 
though  not  with  arms. 

The  tribes  of  the  Western  plains  rarely  go  on  war- 
parties  in  winter,  and  this  great  expedition  must  have 
been  the  result  of  unusual  exasperation.  The  object  was 
to  surprise  the  Snakes  in  the  security  of  their  winter  camp, 
and  strike  a  deadly  blow,  which  would  have  been  impos- 
sible in  summer. 

On  the  8th  of  January  the  whole  body  stopped  to  en- 
camp, choosing,  no  doubt,  after  the  invariable  winter 
custom  of  Western  Indians,  a  place  sheltered  from  wind, 
and  supplied  with  water  and  fuel.  Here  the  squaws  and 
children  were  to  remain,  while  most  of  the  warriors  ad- 
vanced against  the  enemy.  By  pegging  the  lower  edge 
of  the  lodge-skin  to  the  ground,  and  piling  a  ridge  of 
stones  and  earth  upon  it,  to  keep  out  the  air,  fastening 
with  wooden  skewers  the  flap  of  hide  that  covered  the 
entrance,  and  keeping  a  constant  fire,  they  could  pass  a 
winter  endurable  to  Indians,  though  smoke,  filth,  vermin, 
bad  air,  the  crowd,  and  the  total  absence  of  privacy, 
would  make  it  a  purgatory  to  any  civilized  white 
man. 

The  Chevalier  left  his  brother  to  watch  over  the  bag- 
gage of  the  party,  which  was  stored  in  the  lodge  of  the  great 
chief,  while  he  himself,  with  his  two  Canadians,  joined  the 
advancing  warriors.  They  were  on  horseback,  marching 
with  a  certain  order,  and  sending  watchmen  to  recon- 


PAEKMAN.  67 

noitre  the  country  from  the  tops  of  the  hills.1  Their 
movements  were  so  slow  that  it  was  twelve  days  before 
they  reached  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  which,  says  La 
V£  rend  rye,  "  are  for  the  most  part  well  wooded,  and 
seem  very  high."  2  He  longed  to  climb  their  great  snow- 
encumbered  peaks,  fancying  that  he  might  then  see  the 
Pacific,  and  never  dreaming  that  more  than  eight  hundred 
miles  of  mountains  and  forests  still  lay  between  him  and 
his  goal. 

Through  the  whole  of  the  present  century  the  villages 
of  the  Snakes  were  at  a  considerable  distance  west  of  the 
Bighorn  Range,  and  some  of  them  were  even  on  the  upper 
waters  of  the  Pacific  slope.  It  is  likely  that  they  were  so 
in  1743,  in  which  case  the  war-party  would  not  only  have 
reached  the  Bighorn  Mountains,  but  have  pushed  farther 
on  to  within  sight  of  the  great  Wind  River  Range.  Be 
this  as  it  may,  their  scouts  reached  the  chief  winter  camp 
of  the  Snakes,  and  found  it  abandoned,  with  lodges  still 
standing,  and  many  household  possessions  left  behind. 
The  enemy  had  discovered  their  approach,  and  fled.  In- 
stead of  encouraging  the  allies,  this  news  filled  them  with 
terror,  for  they  feared  that  the  Snake  warriors  might 
make  a  circuit  to  the  rear,  and  fall  upon  the  camp  where 
they  had  left  their  women  and  children.  The  great  chief 
spent  all  his  eloquence  in  vain,  nobody  would  listen  to 
him ;  and  with  characteristic  fickleness  they  gave  over  the 
enterprise,  and  retreated  in  a  panic.  "  Our  advance  was 
made  in  good  order,  but  not  so  our  retreat,"  says  the 
Chevalier's  journal.  "  Everybody  fled  his  own  way.  Our 
horses,  though  good,  were  very  tired,  and  got  little  to 

1  At  least  this  was  done  by  a  band  of  Sioux  with  whom  the  writer  once 
traversed  a  part  of  the  country  ranged  by  these  same  Snakes,  who  had 
lately  destroyed  an  entire  Sioux  village. 

2  The  Bighorn  Range,  below  the  snow-line,  is  in  the  main  well  timbered 
with  pine,  flr,  oak,  and  juniper. 


68  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

eat."  The  Chevalier  was  one  day  riding  with  his  friend, 
the  great  chief,  when,  looking  behind  him,  he  missed  his 
two  French  attendants.  Hastening  back  in  alarm,  he 
found  them  far  in  the  rear,  quietly  feeding  their  horses 
under  the  shelter  of  a  clump  of  trees.  He  had  scarcely 
joined  them  when  he  saw  a  party  of  fifteen  hostile  In- 
dians stealthily  creeping  forward,  covered  by  their  bull- 
hide  shields.  He  and  his  men  let  them  approach,  and 
then  gave  them  a  few  shots ;  on  which  they  immediately 
ran  off,  firearms  being  to  them  an  astounding  novelty. 

The  three  Frenchmen  now  tried  to  rejoin  the  great 
chief  and  his  band,  but  the  task  was  not  easy.  The 
prairie,  bare  of  snow  and  hard  as  flint,  showed,  no  trace 
of  foot  or  hoof  ;  and  it  was  by  rare  good  fortune  that  they 
succeeded,  on  the  second  day,  not  in  overtaking  the  chief, 
but  in  reaching  the  camp  where  the  women  and  children 
had  been  left.  They  found  them  all  in  safety  ;  the  Snakes 
had  not  attacked  them,  and  the  panic  of  the  warriors  was 
needless.  It  was  the  9th  of  February.  They  were  scarcely 
housed  when  a  blizzard  set  in,  and  on  the  night  of  the 
10th  the  plains  were  buried  in  snow.  The  great  chief  had 
not  appeared.  With  such  of  his  warriors  as  he  could  per- 
suade to  follow  him,  he  had  made  a  wide  circuit  to  find 
the  trail  of  the  lost  Frenchmen,  but,  to  his  great  distress, 
had  completely  failed.  It  was  not  till  five  days  after  the 
arrival  of  the  Chevalier  and  his  men  that  the  chief 
reached  the  camp,  "  more  dead  than  alive,"  in  the  words 
of  the  journal.  All  his  hardships  were  forgotten  when  he 
found  his  white  friends  safe,  for  he  had  given  them  up  for 
lost.  "  His  sorrow  turned  to  joy,  and  he  could  not  give 
us  attention  and  caresses  enough." 

The  camp  broke  up,  and  the  allied  bands  dispersed. 
The  great  chief  and  his  followers  moved  slowly  through 
the  snowdrifts  towards  the  east-southeast,  accompanied  by 
the  Frenchmen.  Thus  they  kept  on  till  the  1st  of  March, 


PARKMAN.  69 

when  the  two  brothers,  learning  that  they  were  approach- 
ing the  winter  village  of  a  people  called  Gens  de  la  Petite 
Cerise,  or  Choke-Cherry  Indians,  sent  one  of  their  men 
with  a  guide,  to  visit  them.  The  man  returned  in  ten 
days,  bringing  a  message  from  the  Choke-Cherry  Indians, 
inviting  the  Frenchmen  to  their  lodges. 

The  great  chief  of  the  Bow  Indians,  who  seems  to  have 
regarded  his  young  friends  with  mingled  affection,  respect, 
and  wonder,  was  grieved  at  the  thought  of  losing  them, 
but  took  comfort  when  they  promised  to  visit  him  again, 
provided  that  he  would  make  his  abode  near  a  certain 
river  which  they  pointed  out.  To  this  he  readily  agreed, 
and  then,  with  mutual  regret,  they  parted.  The  French- 
men repaired  to  the  village  of  the  Choke-Cherry  Indians, 
who,  like  the  Bow  Indians,  were  probably  a  band  of  Sioux. 
Hard  by  their  lodges,  which  stood  near  the  Missouri,  the 
brothers  buried  a  plate  of  lead  graven  with  the  royal  arms, 
and  raised  a  pile  of  stones  in  honor  of  the  Governor  of 
Canada.  They  remained  at  this  place  till  April ;  then, 
mounting  their  horses  again,  followed  the  Missouri  up- 
ward to  the  village  of  the  Mandans,  which  they  reached 
on  the  18th  of  May.  After  spending  a  week  here,  they 
joined  a  party  of  Assinniboins,  journeyed  with  them  to- 
wards Fort  La  Reine,  and  reached  it  on  the  2d  of  July, 
—  to  the  great  relief  of  their  father,  who  was  waiting 
in  suspense,  having  heard  nothing  of  them  for  more 
than  a  year. 

Sixty -two  years  later,  when  the  vast  western  regions 
then  called  Louisiana  had  just  been  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  Captains  Lewis  and  Clark  left  the  Mandan  villages 
with  thirty-two  men,  traced  the  Missouri  to  the  mountains, 
penetrated  the  wastes  beyond,  and  made  their  way  to  the 
Pacific.  The  first  stages  of  that  remarkable  exploration 
were  anticipated  by  the  brothers  La  Vdrendrye.  They 
did  not  find  the  Pacific,  but  they  discovered  the  Rocky 


70  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

Mountains,  or  at  least  the  part  of  them  to  which  the  name 
properly  belongs ;  for  the  southern  continuation  of  the 
great  range  had  long  been  known  to  the  Spaniards- 
Their  bold  adventure  was  achieved,  not  at  the  charge  of 
a  government,  but  at  their  own  cost  and  that  of  their 
father,  —  not  with  a  band  of  well-equipped  men,  but  with 
only  two  followers. 

The  fur-trading  privilege  which  was  to  have  been  their 
compensation  had  proved  their  ruin.  They  were  still 
pursued  without  ceasing  by  the  jealousy  of  rival  traders 
and  the  ire  of  disappointed  partners.  "  Here  in  Canada 
more  than  anywhere  else,"  the  Chevalier  wrote,  some 
years  after  his  return,  "  envy  is  the  passion  a  la  mode, 
and  there  is  no  escaping  it."  It  was  the  story  of  La  Salle 
repeated.  Beauharnois,  however,  still  stood  by  them, 
encouraged  and  defended  them,  and  wrote  in  their  favor 
to  the  colonial  minister.  It  was  doubtless  through  his 
efforts  that  the  elder  La  Verendrye  was  at  last  promoted 
to  a  captaincy  in  the  colony  troops.  Beauharnois  was 
succeeded  in  the  government  by  the  sagacious  and  able 
Galissoniere,  and  he  too  befriended  the  explorers.  "  It 
seems  to  me,"  he  wrote  to  the  minister,  "  that  what  you 
have  been  told  touching  the  Sieur  de  la  Ve'rendrye,  to  the 
effect  that  he  has  been  more  busy  with  his  own  interests 
than  in  making  discoveries,  is  totally  false,  and,  moreover, 
that  any  officers  employed  in  such  work  will  always  be 
compelled  to  give  some  of  their  attention  to  trade,  so  long 
as  the  King  allows  them  no  other  means  of  subsistence. 
These  discoveries  are  very  costly,  and  more  fatiguing  and 
dangerous  than  open  war."  Two  years  later,  the  elder  La 
Ve'rendrye  received  the  cross  of  the  Order  of  St.  Louis,— 
an  honor  much  prized  in  Canada,  but  which  he  did  not 
long  enjoy;  for  he  died  at  Montreal  in  the  following 
December,  when  on  the  point  of  again  setting  out  for  the 
West. 


PARKMAN.  71 

His  intrepid  sons  survived,  and  they  were  not  idle. 
One  of  them,  the  Chevalier,  had  before  discovered  the 
river  Saskatchawan,  and  ascended  it  as  far  as  the  forks. 
His  intention  was  to  follow  it  to  the  mountains,  build  a 
fort  there,  and  thence  push  westward  in  another  search 
for  the  Pacific ;  but  a  disastrous  event  ruined  all  his 
hopes.  La  Galissouiere  returned  to  France,  and  the  Mar- 
quis de  la  Jonquiere  succeeded  him,  with  the  notorious 
Frangois  Bigot  as  intendant.  Both  were  greedy  of  money, 
—  the  one  to  hoard,  and  the  other  to  dissipate  it.  Clearly 
there  was  money  to  be  got  from  the  fur-trade  of  Manitoba, 
for  La  V6  rend  rye  had  made  every  preparation  and  in- 
curred every  expense.  It  seemed  that  nothing  remained 
but  to  reap  where  he  had  sown.  His  commission  to  find 
the  Pacific,  with  the  privileges  connected  with  it,  was 
refused  to  his  sons,  and  conferred  on  a  stranger.  La  Jon- 
quiere wrote  to  the  minister :  "  I  have  charged  M.  de 
Saint-Pierre  with  this  business.  He  knows  these  coun- 
tries better  than  any  officer  in  all  the  colony."  On  the 
contrary,  he  had  never  seen  them.  It  is  difficult  not  to 
believe  that  La  Jonquiere,  Bigot,  and  Saint-Pierre  were 
partners  in  a  speculation  of  which  all  three  were  to  share 
the  profits. 

The  elder  La  VeVendrye,  not  long  before  his  death,  had 
sent  a  large  quantity  of  goods  to  his  trading-forts.  The 
brothers  begged  leave  to  return  thither  and  save  their 
property  from  destruction.  They  declared  themselves 
happy  to  serve  under  the  orders  of  Saint-Pierre,  and  asked 
for  the  use  of  only  a  single  fort  of  all  those  which  their 
father  had  built  at  his  own  cost.  The  answer  was  a  flat 
refusal.  In  short,  they  were  shamefully  robbed.  The 
Chevalier  writes :  "  M.  le  Marquis  de  la  Jonqniere,  being 
pushed  hard,  and  as  I  thought  even  touched,  by  my  repre- 
sentations, told  me  at  last  that  M.  de  Saint-Pierre  wanted 
nothing  to  do  with  me  or  my  brothers."  "  I  am  a  ruined 


72         LEAFLETS  FROM  STANDARD  AUTHORS. 

man,"  he  continues.  "  I  am  more  than  two  thousand 
livres  in  debt,  and  am  still  only  a  second  ensign.  My 
elder  brother's  grade  is  no  better  than  mine.  My  younger 
brother  is  only  a  cadet.  This  is  the  fruit  of  all  that  my 
father,  my  brothers,  and  I  have  done.  My  other  brother, 
whom  the  Sioux  murdered  some  years  ago,  was  not  the 
most  unfortunate  among  us.  We  must  lose  all  that  has 
cost  us  so  much,  unless  M.  de  Saint-Pierre  should  take 
juster  views,  and  prevail  on  the  Marquis  de  la  Jouquiere 
to  share  them.  To  be  thus  shut  out  from  the  West  is  to 
be  most  cruelly  robbed  of  a  sort  of  inheritance  which  we 
had  all  the  pains  of  acquiring,  and  of  which  others  will 
get  all  the  profit." 

.  His  elder  brother  writes  in  a  similar  strain :  "  We  spent 
our  youth  and  our  property  in  building  up  establishments 
so  advantageous  to  Canada  ;  and  after  all,  we  were  doomed 
to  see  a  stranger  gather  the  fruit  we  had  taken  such  pains 
to  plant."  And  he  complains  that  their  goods  left  in  the 
trading-posts  were  wasted,  their  provisions  consumed,  and 
the  men  in  their  pay  used  to  do  the  work  of  others. 

They  got  no  redress.  Saint-Pierre,  backed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor and  the  Intendant,  remained  master  of  the  position. 
The  brothers  sold  a  small  piece  of  land,  their  last  remain- 
ing property,  to  appease  their  most  pressing  creditors. 

Saint-Pierre  set  out  for  Manitoba  on  the  5th  of  June, 
1750.  Though  he  had  lived  more  or  less  in  the  woods  for 
thirty-six  years,  and  though  La  Jonquiere  had  told  the 
minister  that  he  knew  the  countries  to  which  he  was 
bound  better  than  anybody  else,  it  is  clear  from  his  own 
journal  that  he  was  now  visiting  them  for  the  first  time. 
They  did  not  please  him.  "  I  was  told,"  he  says,  "  that 
the  way  would  grow  harder  and  more  dangerous  as  we 
advanced,  and  I  found,  in  fact,  that  one  must  risk  life  and 
property  every  moment."  Finding  himself  and  his  men 
likely  to  starve,  he  sent  some  of  them,  under  an  ensign 


PARKMAN.  73 

named  Niverville,  to  the  Saskatchawan.  They  could  not 
reach  it,  and  nearly  perished  on  the  way.  "  I  myself  was 
no  more  fortunate,"  says  Saint-Pierre.  "  Food  was  so 
scarce  that  I  sent  some  of  my  people  into  the  woods 
among  the  Indians, — which  did  not  save  me  from  a  fast 
so  rigorous  that  it  deranged  my  health  and  put  it  out  of 
my  power  to  do  anything  towards  accomplishing  my  mis- 
sion. Even  if  I  had  had  strength  enough,  the  war  that 
broke  out  among  the  Indians  would  have  made  it  impos- 
sible to  proceed." 

Niverville,  after  a  winter  of  misery,  tried  to  fulfil  an 
order  which  he  had  received  from  his  commander.  When 
the  Indians  guided  the  two  brothers  La  Verendrye  to  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  the  course  they  took  tended  so  far 
southward  that  the  Chevalier  greatly  feared  it  might  lead 
to  Spanish  settlements ;  and  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that 
the  next  attempt  to  find  the  Pacific  should  be  made  farther 
towards  the  north.  Saint-Pierre  had  agreed  with  him, 
and  had  directed  Niverville  to  build  a  fort  on  the  Sas- 
katchawan three  hundred  leagues  above  its  mouth. 
Therefore,  at  the  end  of  May,  1751,  Niverville  sent  ten 
men  in  two  canoes  on  this  errand,  and  they  ascended  the 
Saskatchawan  to  what  Saint-Pierre  calls  the  "  Rock  Moun- 
tain." Here  they  built  a  small  stockade  fort  and  called  it 
Fort  La  Jonquiere.  Niverville  was  to  have  followed  them; 
but  he  fell  ill,  and  lay  helpless  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
in  such  a  condition  that  he  could  not  even  write  to  his 
commander. 

Saint-Pierre  set  out  in  person  from  Fort  La  Reine  for 
Fort  La  Jonquiere,  over  ice  and  snow,  for  it  was  late  in 
November.  Two  Frenchmen  from  Niverville  met  him  on 
the  way,  and  reported  that  the  Assinniboins  had  slaugh- 
tered an  entire  band  of  friendly  Indians  on  whom  Saint- 
Pierre  had  relied  to  guide  him.  On  hearing  this  he  gave 
up  the  enterprise,  and  returned  to  Fort  La  Reine.  Here 


74  LEAFLETS   FEOM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

the  Indians  told  him  idle  stories  about  white  men  and 
a  fort  in  some  remote  place  towards  the  west;  but,  he 
observes,  "nobody  could  reach  it  without  encountering 
an  infinity  of  tribes  more  savage  than  it  is  possible  to 
imagine." 

He  spent  most  of  the  winter  at  Fort  La  Reine.  Here, 
vtowards  the  end  of  February,  1752,  he  had  with  him  only 
five  men,  having  sent  out  the  rest  in  search  of  food.  Sud- 
denly, as  he  sat  in  his  chamber,  he  saw  the  fort  full  of 
armed  Assinniboins,  extremely  noisy  and  insolent.  He 
tried  in  vain  to  quiet  them,  and  they  presently  broke  into 
the  guard-house  and  seized  the  arms.  A  massacre  would 
have  followed,  had  not  Saint-Pierre,  who  was  far  from 
wanting  courage,  resorted  to  an  expedient  which  has 
more  than  once  proved  effective  on  such  occasions.  He 
knocked  out  the  heads  of  two  barrels  of  gunpowder, 
snatched  a  firebrand,  and  told  the  yelping  crowd  that  he 
would  blow  up  them  and  himself  together.  At  this  they 
all  rushed  in  fright  out  of  the  gate,  while  Saint-Pierre  ran 
after  them  and  bolted  it  fast.  There  was  great  anxiety 
for  the  hunters,  but  they  all  came  back  in  the  evening, 
without  having  met  the  enemy.  The  men,  however,  were 
so  terrified  by  the  adventure  that  Saint-Pierre  was  com- 
pelled to  abandon  the  fort,  after  recommending  it  to  the 
care  of  another  band  of  Assinniboins,  who  had  professed 
great  friendship.  Four  days  after  he  was  gone  they 
burned  it  to  the  ground. 

He  soon  came  to  the  conclusion  that  farther  discovery 
was  impossible,  because  the  English  of  Hudson  Bay  had 
stirred  up  the  Western  tribes  to  oppose  it.  Therefore  he 
set  out  for  the  settlements,  and,  reaching  Quebec  in  the 
autumn  of  1753,  placed  the  journal  of  his  futile  enterprise 
in  the  hands  of  Duquesne,  the  new  governor. 

Canada  was  approaching  her  last  agony.  In  the  death- 
struggle  of  the  Seven  Years'  War  there  was  no  time  for 


PARKMAN.  75 

schemes  of  Western  discovery.  The  brothers  La  Ve"ren- 
drye  sank  into  poverty  and  neglect.  A  little  before  the 
war  broke  out,  we  find  the  eldest  at  the  obscure  Acadian 
post  of  Beause"jour,  where  he  wrote  to  the  colonial  min- 
ister a  statement  of  his  services,  which  appears  to  have 
received  no  attention.  After  the  fall  of  Canada,  the  Che- 
valier de  la  Vdrendrye,  he  whose  eyes  first  beheld  the 
snowy  peaks  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  perished  in  the 
wreck  of  the  ship  "  Auguste,"  on  the  coast  of  Cape  Breton, 
in  November,  1761.  — From  "A  Half  Century  of  Conflict" 
vol.  ii.  chap._xvL_ 


MONTCALM. 

A<;KI>  29. 


THE   POKTRAIT  OF  WOLFE. 


r  I  ""HE  portrait  of  Wolfe  in  the  present  edition  of  this 
book  was  never  before  made  known  to  the  public. 
The  picture  from  which  it  is  taken  was  painted  from  life 
by  Highmore,  an  English  artist  well  known  in  the  last 
century.  When  Wolfe,  then  a  mere  boy,  received  his 
first  commission  and  was  about  to  join  the  army,  he 
caused  his  likeness  to  be  painted  in  uniform,  and  gave 
it,  as  a  token  of  attachment,  to  Reverend  Samuel  Francis 
Swinden,  Vicar  of  Greenwich,  whose  pupil  he  had  been, 
and  whose  friend  he  remained  for  life.  The  descendants 
of  this  gentleman  still  possess  it ;  and  it  is  to  their  kind- 
ness, and  especially  to  that  of  his  great-great-grand- 
daughter, Miss  Florence  Armstrong,  that  I  owe  the 
photograph  which  is  here  reproduced.  It  is  believed 
that  Wolfe  never  again  sat  for  his  portrait.  After  his 
death  his  mother  caused  a  miniature  to  be  taken  from 
the  Highmore  picture,  and  from  this  several  enlarged 
copies  were  afterwards  made. 

The  portrait  in  possession  of  Admiral  Warde,  hitherto 
supposed  to  be  an  original,  now  seems  to  be  one  of  these 
copies.  It  appeared  first  in  Wright's  "Life  of  Wolfe," 
and  is  the  same  that  was  engraved  for  the  early  editions 
of  "  Montcalm  and  Wolfe."  The  existence  of  the  present 
more  trustworthy  and  interesting  picture  has  been  known 
to  few  besides  its  fortunate  possessors. — From  "  Montcalm 
and  Wolfe"  vol.  ii. 


•J 

WOLFE. 
AGED  32. 


THE   HEIGHTS  OF  ABKAHAM. 


WOLFE'S  first  move  towards  executing  his  plan  was 
the  critical  one  of  evacuating  the  camp  at  Mont- 
morenci.  This  was  accomplished  on  the  third  of  Septem- 
ber. Montcalm  sent  a  strong  force  to  fall  on  the  rear 
of  the  retiring  English.  Monckton  saw  the  movement 
from  Point  Levi,  embarked  two  battalions  in  the  boats 
of  the  fleet,  and  made  a  feint  of  landing  at  Beauport. 
Montcalm  recalled  his  troops  to  repulse  the  threatened 
attack ;  and  the  English  withdrew  from  Montmorenci 
unmolested,  some  to  the  Point  of  Orleans,  others  to  Point 
Levi.  On  the  night  of  the  fourth  a  fleet  of  flat-boats 
passed  above  the  town  with  the  baggage  and  stores.  On 
the  fifth,  Murray,  with  four  battalions,  marched  up  to 
the  River  Etechemin,  and  forded  it  under  a  hot  fire  from 
the  French  batteries  at  Sillery.  Monckton  and  Towns- 
hend  followed  with  three  more  battalions,  and  the  united 
force,  of  about  thirty-six  hundred  men,  was  embarked  on 
board  the  ships  of  Holmes,  where  Wolfe  joined  them  on 
the  same  evening. 

These  movements  of  the  English  filled  the  French  com- 
manders with  mingled  perplexity,  anxiety,  and  hope. 
A  deserter  told  them  that  Admiral  Saunders  was  impa- 
tient to  be  gone.  Vaudreuil  grew  confident.  "  The 
breaking  up  of  the  camp  at  Montmorenci,"  he  says,  "  and 
the  abandonment  of  the  intrenchments  there,  the  reim- 
barkation  on  board  the  vessels  above  Quebec  of  the  troops 


80  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

who  had  encamped  on  the  south  bank,  the  movements  of 
these  vessels,  the  removal  of  the  heaviest  pieces  of  artil- 
lery from  the  batteries  of  Point  Levi,  —  these  and  the 
lateness  of  the  season  all  combined  to  announce  the 
speedy  departure  of  the  fleet,  several  vessels  of  which 
had  even  sailed  down  the  river  already.  The  prisoners 
and  the  deserters  who  daily  came  in  told  us  that  this  was 
the  common  report  in  their  army."  He  wrote  to  Bourla- 
maque  on  the  first  of  September :  "  Everything  proves 
that  the  grand  design  of  the  English  has  failed." 

Yet  he  was  ceaselessly  watchful.  So  was  Montcalm ; 
and  he,  too,  on  the  night  of  the  second,  snatched  a  mo- 
ment to  write  to  Bourlamaque  from  his  headquarters  in 
the  stone  house,  by  the  river  of  Beauport :  "  The  night  is 
dark ;  it  rains ;  our  troops  are  in.  their  tents,  with  clothes 
on,  ready  for  an  alarm  ;  I  in  my  boots  ;  my  horses  saddled. 
In  fact,  this  is  my  usual  way.  I  wish  you  were  here  ; 
for  I  cannot  be  everywhere,  though  I  multiply  myself, 
and  have  not  taken  off  my  clothes  since  the  twenty-third 
of  June."  On  the  eleventh  of  September  he  wrote  his 
last  letter  to  Bourlamaque,  and  probably  the  last  that  his 
pen  ever  traced.  "  I  am  overwhelmed  with  work,  and 
should  often  lose  temper,  like  you,  if  I  did  not  remember 
that  I  am  paid  by  Europe  for  not  losing  it.  Nothing  new 
since  my  last.  I  give  the  enemy  another  month,  or 
something  less,  to  stay  here."  The  more  sanguine  Vau- 
dreuil  would  hardly  give  them  a  week. 

Meanwhile,  no  precaution  was  spared.  The  force  under 
Bougainville  above  Quebec  was  raised  to  three  thousand 
men.  He  was  ordered  to  watch  the  shore  as  far  as 
Jacques-Cartier,  and  follow  with  his  main  body  every 
movement  of  Holmes's  squadron.  There  was  little  fear 
for  the  heights  near  the  town ;  they  were  thought  inacces- 
sible. Even  Montcalm  believed  them  safe,  and  had  ex- 
pressed himself  to  that  effect  some  time  before.  "  We 


PARKMAN.  81 

need  not  suppose,"  he  wrote  to  Vaudreuil,  "  that  the 
enemy  have  wings ; "  and  again,  speaking  of  the  very 
place  where  Wolfe  afterwards  landed,  "  I  swear  to  you 
that  a  hundred  men  posted  there  would  stop  their  whole 
army."  He  was  right.  A  hundred  watchful  and  deter- 
mined men  could  have  held  the  position  long  enough  for 
reinforcements  to  come  up. 

The  hundred  men  were  there.  Captain  de  Vergor,  of 
the  colony  troops,  commanded  them,  and  reinforcements 
were  within  his  call ;  for  the  battalion  of  Guienne  had 
been  ordered  to  encamp  close  at  hand  on  the  Plains  of 
Abraham.  Vergor's  post,  called  Ause  du  Foulon,  was 
a  mile  and  a  half  from  Quebec.  A  little  beyond  it,  by 
the  brink  of  the  cliffs,  was  another  post,  called  Sanios, 
held  by  seventy  men  with  four  cannon  ;  and,  beyond  this 
again,  the  heights  of  Sillery  were  guarded  by  a  hundred 
and  thirty  men,  also  with  cannon.  These  were  outposts 
of  Bougainville,  whose  headquarters  were  at  Cap-Rouge, 
six  miles  above  Sillery,  and  whose  troops  were  in  con- 
tinual movement  along  the  intervening  shore.  Thus  all 
was  vigilance ;  for  while  the  French  were  strong  in  the  hope 
of  speedy  delivery,  they  felt  that  there  was  no  safety  till 
the  tents  of  the  invader  had  vanished  from  their  shores 
and  his  ships  from  their  river.  "  What  we  knew,"  says 
one  of  them,  "  of  the  character  of  M.  Wolfe,  that  impetu- 
ous, bold,  and  intrepid  warrior,  prepared  us  for  a  last 
attack  before  he  left  us." 

Wolfe  had  been  very  ill  on  the  evening  of  the  fourth. 
The  troops  knew  it,  and  their  spirits  sank  ;  but,  after  a 
night  of  torment,  he  grew  better,  and  was  soon  among 
them  again,  rekindling  their  ardor,  and  imparting  a  cheer 
that  he  could  not  share.  For  himself  he  had  no  pity ; 
but  when  he  heard  of  the  illness  of  two  officers  in  one 
of  the  ships,  he  sent  them  a  message  of  warm  sympathy, 
advised  them  to  return  to  Point  Levi,  and  offered  them 

fi 


82  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

his  own  barge  and  an  escort.  They  thanked  him,  but 
replied  that,  come  what  might,  they  would  see  the  enter- 
prise  to  an  end.  Another  officer  remarked  in  his  hearing 
that  one  of  the  invalids  had  a  very  delicate  constitution. 
"Don't  tell  me  of  constitution,"  said  Wolfe;  "he  has 
good  spirit,  and  good  spirit  will  carry  a  man  through 
everything."  An  immense  moral  force  bore  up  his  own 
frail  body  and  forced  it  to  its  work. 

Major  Robert  Stobo,  who,  five  years  before,  had  been 
given  as  a  hostage  to  the  French  at  the  capture  of  Fort 
Necessity,  arrived  about  this  time  in  a  vessel  from  Hali- 
fax. He  had  long  been  a  prisoner  at  Quebec,  not  always 
in  close  custody,  and  had  used  his  opportunities  to  ac- 
quaint himself  with  the  neighborhood.  In  the  spring  of 
this  year  he  and  an  officer  of  rangers  named  Stevens  had 
made  their  escape  with  extraordinary  skill  and  daring; 
and  he  now  returned  to  give  his  countrymen  the  benefit 
of  his  local  knowledge.  His  biographer  says  that  it  was 
he  who  directed  Wolfe  in  the  choice  of  a  landing-place. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  Wolfe  in  person  examined  the  river 
and  the  shores  as  far  as  Pointe-aux-Trembles ;  till  at 
length,  landing  on  the  south  side  a  little  above  Quebec, 
and  looking  across  the  water  with  a  telescope,  he  de- 
scried a  path  that  ran  with  a  long  slope  up  the  face  of 
the  woody  precipice,  and  saw  at  the  top  a  cluster  of  tents. 
They  were  those  of  Vergor's  guard  at  the  Anse  duFoulon, 
now  called  Wolfe's  Cove.  As  he  could  see  but  ten  or 
twelve  of  them,  he  thought  that  the  guard  could  not  be 
numerous,  and  might  be  overpowered.  His  hope  would 
have  been  stronger  if  he  had  known  that  Vergor  had  once 
been  tried  for  misconduct  and  cowardice  in  the  surrender 
of  Beausdjour,  and  saved  from  merited  disgrace  by  the 
friendship  of  Bigot  and  the  protection  of  Vaudreuil. 

The  morning  of  the  seventh  was  fair  and  warm,  and 
the  vessels  of  Holmes,  their  crowded  decks  gay  with 


PARKMAN.  83 

scarlet  uniforms,  sailed  up  the  river  to  Cap-Rouge.  A 
lively  scene  awaited  them  ;  for  here  were  the  headquarters 
of  Bougainville,  and  here  lay  his  principal  force,  while 
the  rest  watched  the  banks  above  and  below.  The  cove 
into  which  the  little  river  runs  was  guarded  by  floating 
batteries  ;  the  surrounding  shore  was  defended  by  breast- 
works ;  and  a  large  body  of  regulars,  militia,  and  mounted 
Canadians  in  blue  uniforms  moved  to  and  fro,  with  rest- 
less activity,  on  the  hills  behind.  When  the  vessels  came 
to  anchor,  the  horsemen  dismounted  and  formed  in  line 
with  the  infantry ;  then,  with  loud  shouts,  the  whole 
rushed  down  the  heights  to  man  their  works  at  the  shore. 
That  true  Briton,  Captain  Knox,  looked  on  with  a  critical 
eye  from  the  gangway  of  his  ship,  and  wrote  that  night 
in  his  Diary  that  they  had  made  a  ridiculous  noise. 
"How  different!"  he  exclaims,  "how  nobly  awful  and 
expressive  of  true  valor  is  the  customary  silence  of  the 
British  troops ! " 

In  the  afternoon  the  ships  opened  fire,  while  the  troops 
entered  the  boats  and  rowed  up  and  down  as  if  looking 
for  a  landing-place.  It  was  but  a  feint  of  Wolfe  to  de- 
ceive Bougainville  as  to  his  real  design.  A  heavy  east- 
erly rain  set  in  on  the  next  morning,  and  lasted  two  days 
without  respite.  All  operations  were  suspended,  and  the 
men  suffered  greatly  in  the  crowded  transports.  Half  of 
them  were  therefore  landed  on  the  south  shore,  where 
they  made  their  quarters  in  the  village  of  St.  Nicolas, 
refreshed  themselves,  and  dried  their  wet  clothing,  knap- 
sacks, and  blankets. 

For  several  successive  days  the  squadron  of  Holmes 
was  allowed  to  drift  up  the  river  with  the  flood  tide  and 
down  with  the  ebb,  thus  passing  and  repassing  incessantly 
between  the  neighborhood  of  Quebec  on  one  hand,  and  a 
point  high  above  Cap-Rouge  on  the  other ;  while  Bougain- 
ville, perplexed,  and  always  expecting  an  attack,  followed 


84  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

the  ships  to  and  fro  along  the  shore,  by  day  and  by 
night,  till  his  men  were  exhausted  with  ceaseless  forced 
marches. 

At  last  the  time  for  action  came.  On  Wednesday,  the 
twelfth,  the  troops  at  St.  Nicolas  were  embarked  again, 
and  all  were  told  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness.  Wolfe, 
from  the  flagship  "  Sutherland,"  issued  his  last  general 
orders.  "  The  enemy's  force  is  now  divided,  great  scar- 
city of  provisions  in  their  camp,  and  universal  discontent 
among  the  Canadians.  Our  troops  below  are  in  readiness 
to  join  us ;  all  the  light  artillery  and  tools  are  embarked 
at  the  Point  of  Levi ;  and  the  troops  will  land  where  the 
French  seem  least  to  expect  it.  The  first  body  that  gets 
on  shore  is  to  march  directly  to  the  enemy  and  drive 
them  from  any  little  post  they  may  occupy  ;  the  officers 
must  be  careful  that  the  succeeding  bodies  do  not  by  any 
mistake  fire  on  those  who  go  before  them.  The  battalions 
must  form  on  the  upper  ground  with  expedition,  and  be 
ready  to  charge  whatever  presents  itself.  When  the 
artillery  and  troops  are  landed,  a  corps  will  be  left  to 
secure  the  landing-place,  while  the  rest  march  on  and 
endeavor  to  bring  the  Canadians  and  French  to  a  battle. 
The  officers  and  men  will  remember  what  their  country 
expects  from  them,  and  what  a  determined  body  of  sol- 
diers inured  to  war  is  capable  of  doing  against  five  weak 
French  battalions  mingled  with  a  disorderly  peasantry." 

The  spirit  of  the  army  answered  to  that  of  its  chief. 
The  troops  loved  and  admired  their  general,  trusted  their 
officers,  and  were  ready  for  any  attempt.  "  Nay,  how 
could  it  be  otherwise,"  quaintly  asks  honest  Sergeant 
John  Johnson,  of  the  fifty-eighth  regiment,  "  being  at 
the  heels  of  gentlemen  whose  whole  thirst,  equal  with 
their  general,  was  for  glory  ?  We  had  seen  them  tried, 
and  always  found  them  sterling.  We  knew  that  they 
would  stand  by  us  to  the  last  extremity." 


PARKMAN.  85 

Wolfe  had  thirty-six  hundred  men  and  officers  with 
him  on  board  the  vessels  of  Holmes ;  and  he  now  sent 
orders  to  Colonel  Burton  at  Point  Levi  to  bring  to  his 
aid  all  who  could  be  spared  from  that  place  and  the 
Point  of  Orleans.  They  were  to  march  along  the  south 
bank,  after  nightfall,  and  wait  further  orders  at  a  desig- 
nated spot  convenient  for  embarkation.  Their  number 
was  about  twelve  hundred,  so  that  the  entire  force  des- 
tined for  the  enterprise  was  at  the  utmost  forty-eight 
hundred.  With  these,  Wolfe  meant  to  climb  the  heights 
of  Abraham  in  the  teeth  of  an  enemy  who,  though  much 
reduced,  were  still  twice  as  numerous  as  their  assailants.1 

Admiral  Saunders  lay  with  the  main  fleet  in  the  Basin 
of  Quebec.  This  excellent  officer,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  views  as  to  the  necessity  of  a  speedy  departure, 
aided  Wolfe  to  the  last  with  unfailing  energy  and  zeal. 
It  was  agreed  between  them  that  while  the  General  made 
the  real  attack,  the  Admiral  should  engage  Montcalm's 
attention  by  a  pretended  one.  As  night  approached,  the 
fleet  ranged  itself  along  the  Beauport  shore ;  the  boats 
were  lowered  and  filled  with  sailors,  marines,  and  the 
few  troops  that  had  been  left  behind  ;  while  ship  signalled 
to  ship,  cannon  flashed  and  thundered,  and  shot  ploughed 
the  beach,  as  if  to  clear  a  way  for  assailants  to  land.  In 
the  gloom  of  the  evening  the  effect  was  imposing.  Mont- 
cairn,  who  thought  that  the  movements  of  the  English 
above  the  town  were  only  a  feint,  that  their  main  force 
was  still  below  it,  and  that  their  real  attack  would  be 
made  there,  was  completely  deceived,  and  massed  his 

1  Including  Bougainville's  command.  An  escaped  prisoner  told  Wolfe, 
a  few  days  before,  that  Montcalm  still  had  fourteen  thousand  men. 
Journal  of  an  Expedition  on  (he  River  St.  Lawrence.  This  meant  only 
those  in  the  town  and  the  camps  of  Beauport.  "  I  don't  believe  their 
whole  army  amounts  to  that  number,"  wrote  Wolfe  to  Colonel  Burton  on 
the  tenth.  He  knew,  however,  that  if  Montcalm  could  bring  all  his 
troops  together,  the  French  would  outnumber  him  more  than  two  to  one. 


86  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

troops  in  front  of  Beauport  to  repel  the  expected  landing. 
But  while  in  the  fleet  of  Saunders  all  was  uproar  and 
ostentatious  menace,  the  danger  was  ten  miles  away, 
where  the  squadron  of  Holmes  lay  tranquil  and  silent  at 
its  anchorage  off  Cap-Rouge. 

It  was  less  tranquil  than  it  seemed.  All  on  board 
knew  that  a  blow  would  be  struck  that  night,  though  only 
a  few  high  officers  knew  where.  Colonel  Howe,  of  the 
light  infantry,  called  for  volunteers  to  lead  the  unknown 
and  desperate  venture,  promising,  in  the  words  of  one 
of  them,  "  that  if  any  of  us  survived  we  might  depend 
on  being  recommended  to  the  General."  As  many  as 
were  wanted — twenty-four  in  all  —  soon  came  forward. 
Thirty  large  bateaux  and  some  boats  belonging  to  the 
squadron  lay  moored  alongside  the  vessels  ;  and  late  in 
the  evening  the  troops  were  ordered  into  them,  the 
twenty-four  volunteers  taking  their  place  in  the  foremost. 
They  held  in  all  about  seventeen  hundred  men.  The  rest 
remained  on  board. 

Bougainville  could  discern  the  movement,  and  mis- 
judged it,  thinking  that  he  himself  was  to  be  attacked. 
The  tide  was  still  flowing ;  and,  the  better  to  deceive 
him,  the  vessels  and  boats  were  allowed  to  drift  up- 
ward with  it  for  a  little  distance,  as  if  to  land  above 
Cap-Rouge. 

The  day  had  been  fortunate  for  Wolfe.  Two  deserters 
came  from  the  camp  of  Bougainville  with  intelligence 
that,  at  ebb  tide  on  the  next  night,  he  was  to  send  down 
a  convoy  of  provisions  to  Montcalm.  The  necessities  of 
the  camp  at  Beauport,  and  the  difficulties  of  transporta- 
tion by  land,  had  before  compelled  the  French  to  resort 
to  this  perilous  means  of  conveying  supplies  ;  and  their 
boats,  drifting  in  darkness  under  the  shadows  of  the 
northern  shore,  had  commonly  passed  in  safety.  Wolfe 
saw  at  once  that,  if  his  own  boats  went  down  in  advance 


PARKMAN.  87 

of  the  convoy,  he   could   turn    the    intelligence    of   the 
deserters   to   good   account. 

"*  He  was  still  on  board  the  "  Sutherland."  Every  pre- 
paration was  made,  and  every  order  given ;  it  only 
remained  to  wait  the  turning  of  the  tide.  Seated  with 
him  in  the  cabin  was  the  commander  of  the  sloop-of- 
war  "  Porcupine,"  his  former  schoolfellow,  John  Jervis, 
afterwards  Earl  St.  Vincent.  Wolfe  told  him  that  he 
expected  to  die  in  the  battle  of  the  next  day ;  and  tak- 
ing from  his  bosom  a  miniature  of  Miss  Lowther,  his 
betrothed,  he  gave  it  to  him  with  a  request  that  he 
would  return  it  to  her  if  the  presentiment  should 
prove  true. 

Towards  two  o'clock  the  tide  began  to  ebb,  and  a 
fresh  wind  blew  down  the  river.  Two  lanterns  were 
raised  into  the  maintop  shrouds  of  the  "  Sutherland." 
It  was  the  appointed  signal ;  the  boats  cast  off  and 
fell  down  with  the  current,  those  of  the  light  infantry 
leading  the  way.  The  vessels  with  the  rest  of  the 
troops  had  orders  to  follow  a  little  later. 
"*"  To  look  for  a  moment  at  the  chances  on  which  this 
bold  adventure  hung.  First,  the  deserters  told  Wolfe 
that  provision-boats  were  ordered  to  go  down  to  Quebec 
that  night ;  secondly,  Bougainville  countermanded  them  ; 
thirdly,  the  sentries  posted  along  the  heights  were  told 
of  the  order,  but  not  of  the  countermand ;  fourthly, 
Vergor  at  the  Anse  du  Foulon  had  permitted  most  of 
his  men,  chiefly  Canadians  from  Lorette,  to  go  home  for 
a  time  and  work  at  their  harvesting,  on  condition,  it  is 
said,  that  they  should  afterwards  work  in  a  neighboring 
field  of  his  own  ;  fifthly,  he  kept  careless  watch,  and  went 
quietly  to  bed  ;  sixthly,  the  battalion  of  Guienne,  ordered 
to  take  post  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham,  had,  for  reasons 
unexplained,  remained  encamped  by  the  St.  Charles ; 
and  lastly,  when  Bougainville  saw  Holmes's  vessels  drift 


88  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

down  the  stream,  he  did  not  tax  his  weary  troops  to  fol- 
low them,  thinking  that  they  would  return  as  usual  with 
the  flood  tide.  But  for  these  conspiring  circumstances 
New  France  might  have  lived  a  little  longer,  and  the 
fruitless  heroism  of  Wolfe  would  have  passed,  with 
countless  other  heroisms,  into  oblivion. 
4  For  full  two  hours  the  procession  of  boats,  borne  on 
the  current,  steered  silently  down  the  St.  Lawrence.  The 
stars  were  visible,  but  the  night  was  moonless  and  suffi- 
ciently dark.  The  General  was  in  one  of  the  foremost 
boats,  and  near  him  was  a  young  midshipman,  John 
Robison,  afterwards  professor  of  natural  philosophy  in 
the  University  of  Edinburgh.  He  used  to  tell  in  his 
later  life  how  Wolfe,  with  a  low  voice,  repeated  Gray's 
Elegy  in  a  Country  Churchyard  to  the  officers  about 
him.  Probably  it  was  to  relieve  the  intense  strain  of  his 
thoughts.  Among  the  rest  was  the  verse  which  his  own 
fate  was  soon  to  illustrate,  — 

"  The  paths  of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave." 

"  Gentlemen,"  he  said,  as  his  recital  ended,  "  I  would 
rather  have  written  those  lines  than  take  Quebec."  None 
were  there  to  tell  him  that  the  hero  is  greater  than  the 
poet. 

As  they  neared  their  destination,  the  tide  bore  them  in 
towards  the  shore,  and  the  mighty  wall  of  rock  and  forest 
towered  in  darkness  on  their  left.  The  dead  stillness  was 
suddenly  broken  by  the  sharp  Qui  vive  !  of  a  French  sen- 
try, invisible  in  the  thick  gloom.  France!  answered  a 
Highland  officer  of  Fraser's  regiment  from  one  of  the  boats 
of  the  light  infantry.  He  had  served  in  Holland,  and  spoke 
French  fluently. 

A  quel  rfyiment  ? 

De  la  Heine,  replied  the  Highlander.  He  knew  that 
a  part  of  that  corps  was  with  Bougainville.  The  sentry, 


PARKMAN.  89 

expecting  the  convoy  of  provisions,  was  satisfied,  and  did 
not  ask  for  the  password. 

Soon  after,  the  foremost  boats  were  passing  the  heights 
of  Samos,  when  another  sentry  challenged  them,  and  they 
could  see  him  through  the  darkness  running  down  to  the 
edge  of  the  water,  within  range  of  a  pistol-shot.  In  an- 
swer to  his  questions,  the  same  officer  replied,  in  French  : 
**  Provision-boats.  Don't  make  a  noise  ;  the  English  will 
hear  us."  In  fact,  the  sloop-of-war  "Hunter"  was  an- 
chored in  the  stream  not  far  off.  This  time,  again,  the 
sentry  let  them  pass.  In  a  few  moments  they  rounded 
the  headland  above  the  Anse  du  Foulon.  There  was  no 
sentry  there.  The  strong  current  swept  the  boats  of  the 
light  infantry  a  little  below  the  intended  landing-place. 
They  disembarked  on  a  narrow  strand  at  the  foot  of 
heights  as  steep  as  a  hill  covered  with  trees  can  be.  The 
twenty-four  volunteers  led  the  way,  climbing  with  what 
silence  they  might,  closely  followed  by  a  much  larger 
body.  When  they  reached  the  top  they  saw  in  the  dim 
light  a  cluster  of  tents  at  a  short  distance,  and  immediately 
made  a  dash  at  them.  Vergor  leaped  from  bed  and  tried 
to  run  off,  but  was  shot  in  the  heel  and  captured.  His 
men,  taken  by  surprise,  made  little  resistance.  One  or 
two  were  caught,  and  the  rest  fled. 

The  main  body  of  troops  waited  in  their  boats  by  the 
edge  of  the  strand.  The  heights  near  by  were  cleft  by  a 
great  ravine  choked  with  forest  trees ;  and  in  its  depths 
ran  a  little  brook  called  Ruisseau  St.-Denis,  which,  swollen 
by  the  late  rains,  fell  plashing  in  the  stillness  over  a  rock. 
Other  than  this  no  sound  could  reach  the  strained  ear  of 
Wolfe  but  the  gurgle  of  the  tide  and  the  cautious  climb- 
ing of  his  advance-parties  as  they  mounted  the  steeps  at 
some  little  distance  from  where  he  sat  listening.  At 
length  from  the  top  came  a  sound  of  musket-shots,  fol- 
lowed by  loud  huzzas,  and  he  knew  that  his  men  were 


90  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

masters  of  the  position.  The  word  was  given  ;  the  troops 
leaped  from  the  boats  and  scaled  the  heights,  some  here, 
some  there,  clutching  at  trees  and  bushes,  their  muskets 
slung  at  their  backs.  Tradition  still  points  out  the  place, 
near  the  mouth  of  the  ravine,  where  the  foremost  reached 
the  top.  Wolfe  said  to  an  officer  near  him  :  "  You  can 
try  it,  but  I  don't  think  you  '11  get  up."  He  himself,  how- 
ever, found  strength  to  drag  himself  up  with  the  rest. 
The  narrow  slanting  path  on  the  face  of  the  heights  had 
been  made  impassable  by  trenches  and  abattis  ;  but  all 
obstructions  were  soon  cleared  away,  and  then  the  ascent 
was  easy.  In  the  gray  of  the  morning  the  long  file  of 
red-coated  soldiers  moved  quickly  upward,  and  formed  in 
order  on  the  plateau  above. 

.  Before  many  of  them  had  reached  the  top,  cannon  were 
heard  close  on  the  left.  It  was  the  battery  at  Sainos  fir- 
ing on  the  boats  in  the  rear  and  the  vessels  descending 
from  Cap-Rouge.  A  party  was  sent  to  silence  it ;  this  was 
soon  effected,  and  the  more  distant  battery  at  Sillery  was 
next  attacked  and  taken.  As  fast  as  the  boats  were  emp- 
tied they  returned  for  the  troops  left  on  board  the  vessels 
and  for  those  waiting  on  the  southern  shore  under  Colonel 
Burton. 

The  day  broke  in  clouds  and  threatening  rain.  Wolfe's 
battalions  were  drawn  up  along  the  crest  of  the  heights,  j 
No  enemy  was  in  sight,  though  a  body  of  Canadians  had 
sallied  from  the  town  and  moved  along  the  strand  towards 
the  landing-place,  whence  they  were  quickly  driven  back. 
He  had  achieved  the  most  critical  part  of  his  enterprise  ; 
yet  the  success  that  he  coveted  placed  him  in  imminent 
danger.  On  one  side  was  the  garrison  of  Quebec  and  the 
army  of  Beauport,  and  Bougainville  was  on  the  other. 
Wolfe's  alternative  was  victory  or  ruin ;  for  if  he  should 
be  overwhelmed  by  a  combined  attack,  retreat  would  be 
hopeless.  His  feelings  no  man  can  know ;  but  it  would 


PARKMAN.  91 

be  safe  to  say  that  hesitation  or  doubt  had  no  part  in 
them. 

He  went  to  reconnoitre  the  ground,  and  soon  came  to 
the  Plains  of  Abraham,  so  called  from  Abraham  Martin, 
a  pilot  known  as  Maitre  Abraham,  who  had  owned  a  piece 
of  land  here  in  the  early  times  of  the  colony.  The  Plains 
were  a  tract  of  grass,  tolerably  level  in  most  parts,  patched 
here  and  there  with  cornfields,  studded  with  clumps  of 
bushes,  and  forming  a  part  of  the  high  plateau  at  the 
eastern  end  of  which  Quebec  stood.  On  the  south  it  was 
bounded  by  the  declivities  along  the  St.  Lawrence ;  on 
the  north,  by  those  along  the  St.  Charles,  or  rather  along 
the  meadows  through  which  that  lazy  stream  crawled 
like  a  writhing  snake.  At  the  place  that  Wolfe  chose  for 
his  battle-field  the  plateau  was  less  than  a  mile  wide. 

Thither  the  troops  advanced,  marched  by  files  till  they 
reached  the  ground,  and  then  wheeled  to  form  their  line 
of  battle,  which  stretched  across  the  plateau  and  faced 
the  city.  It  consisted  of  six  battalions  and  the  detached 
grenadiers  from  Louisbourg,  all  drawn  up  in  ranks  three 
deep.  Its  right  wing  was  near  the  brink  of  the  heights 
along  the  St.  Lawrence  ;  but  the  left  could  not  reach 
those  along  the  St.  Charles.  On  this  side  a  wide  space 
was  perforce  left  open,  and  there  was  danger  of  being 
outflanked.  To  prevent  this,  Brigadier  Townshend  w;is 
stationed  here  with  two  battalions,  drawn  up  at  right 
angles  with  the  rest,  and  fronting  the  St.  Charles.  The 
battalion  of  Webb's  regiment,  under  Colonel  Burton, 
formed  the  reserve  ;  the  third  battalion  of  Royal  Ameri- 
cans was  left  to  guard  the  landing;  and  Howe's  light 
infantry  occupied  a  wood  far  in  the  rear.  Wolfe,  with 
Monckton  and  Murray,  commanded  the  front  line,  on 
which  the  heavy  fighting  was  to  fall,  and  which,  when 
all  the  troops  had  arrived,  numbered  less  than  thirty- 
five  hundred  men. 


92  LEAFLETS   PROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

Quebec  was  not  a  mile  distant,  but  they  could  not  see 
it ;  for  a  ridge  of  broken  ground  intervened,  called  Buttes- 
a-Neveu,  about  six  hundred  paces  off.  The  first  division 
of  troops  had  scarcely  come  up  when,  about  six  o'clock, 
this  ridge  was  suddenly  thronged  with  white  uniforms. 
It  was  the  battalion  of  Guienne,  arrived  at  the  eleventh 
hour  from  its  camp  by  the  St.  Charles.  Some  time  after 
there  was  hot  firing  in  the  rear.  It  came  from  a  detach- 
ment of  Bougainville's  command  attacking  a  house  where 
some  of  the  light  infantry  were  posted.  The  assailants 
were  repulsed,  and  the  firing  ceased.  Light  showers  fell 
at  intervals,  besprinkling  the  troops  as  they  stood  patiently 
waiting  the  event. 

Montcalm  had  passed  a  troubled  night.  >  Through  all 
the  evening  the  cannon  bellowed  from  the  ships  of  Saun- 
ders,  and  the  boats  of  the  fleet  hovered  in  the  dusk  off 
the  Beauport  shore,  threatening  every  moment  to  land. 
Troops  lined  the  intrenchments  till  day,  while  ithe  Gen- 
eral walked  the  field  that  adjoined  his  headquarters  till 
one  in  the  morning,  Accompanied  by  the  Chevalier  John- 
stone  and  Colonel  Poulariez.  (Johnstone  says  that  he  was 
in  great  agitation,  and  took  no  rest  all  night.  At  day- 
break he  heard  the  sound  of  cannon  above  the  town.  It 
was  the  battery  at  Samos  firing  on  the  English  ships.  He 
had  sent  an  officer  to  the  quarters  of  Vaudreuil,  which 
were  much  nearer  Quebec,  with  orders  to  bring  him  word 
at  once  should  anything  unusual  happen.  But  no  word 
came,  and  about  six  o'clock  he  mounted  and  rode  thither 
with  Johnstone.  As  they  advanced,  the  country  behind 
the  town  opened  more  and  more  upon  their  sight ;  till  at 
length,  when  opposite  Vaudreuil's  house,  they  saw  across 
the  St.  Charles,  some  two  miles  away,  the  red  ranks  of 
British  soldiers  on  the  heights  beyond. 

"  This  is  a  serious  business,"  Montcalm  said ;  and  sent 
off  Johnstone  at  full  gallop  to  bring  up  the  troops  from 


PARKMAN.  93 

the  centre  and  left  of  the  camp.  Those  of  the  right  were 
in  motion  already,  doubtless  by  the  Governor's  order. 
Vaudreuil  came  out  of  the  house.  Montcalm  stopped  for 
a  few  words  with  him ;  then  set  spurs  to  his  horse,  and 
rode  over  the  bridge  of  the  St.  Charles  to  the  scene 
of  danger.  He  rode  with  a  fixed  look,  uttering  not  a 
word. 

The  army  followed  in  such  order  as  it  might,  crossed 
the  bridge  in  hot  haste,  passed  under  the  northern  ram- 
part of  Quebec,  entered  at  the  Palace  Gate,  and  pressed 
on  in  headlong  march  along  the  quaint  narrow  streets  of 
the  warlike  town :  troops  of  Indians  in  scalplocks  and 
war-paint,  a  savage  glitter  in  their  deep-set  eyes ;  bands 
of  Canadians  whose  all  was  at  stak3,  —  faith,  country,  and 
home ;  the  colony  regulars ;  the  battalions  of  Old  France, 
a  torrent  of  white  uniforms  and  gleaming  bayonets,  La 
Sarre,  Languedoc,  Roussillon,  Be'arn, —  victors  of  Oswego, 
William  Henry,  and  Ticonderoga.  So  they  swept  on, 
poured  out  upon  the  plain,  some  by  the  gate  of  St. 
Louis,  and  some  by  that  of  St.  John,  and  hurried,  breath- 
less, to  where  the  banners  of  Guienne  still  fluttered  on 
the  ridge. 

Montcalm  was  amazed  at  what  he  saw.  He  had  ex- 
pected a  detachment,  and  he  found  an  army.  Full  in 
sight  before  him  stretched  the  lines  of  Wolfe :  the  close 
ranks  of  the  English  infantry,  a  silent  wall  of  red,  and 
the  wild  array  of  the  Highlanders,  with  their  waving  tar- 
tans, and  bagpipes  screaming  defiance.  ^Vaudreuil  had 
not  come  ;  but  not  the  less  was  felt  the  evil  of  a  divided 
authority  and  the  jealousy  of  the  rival  chiefs.  Montcalm 
waited  long  for  the  forces  he  had  ordered  to  join  him  from 
the  left  wing  of  the  army.  Ho  waited  in  vain.  It  is  said 
that  the  Governor  had  detained  them,  lest  the  English 
should  attack  the  Beauport  shore.  Even  if  they  did  so, 
and  succeeded,  the  French  might  defy  them,  could  they 


94  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

but  put  Wolfe  to  rout  on  the  Plains  of  Abraham.  Neither 
did  the  garrison  of  Quebec  come  to  the  aid  of  Montcalm. 
He  sent  to  Ramesay,  its  commander,  for  twenty-five  field- 
pieces  which  were  on  the  Palace  battery.  Ramesay  would 
give  him  only  three,  saying  that  he  wanted  them  for  his 
own  defence.  There  were  orders  and  counter-orders ; 
misunderstanding,  haste,  delay,  perplexity. 

Montcalm  and  his  chief  officers  held  a  council  of  war. 
It  is  said  that  he  and  they  alike  were  for  immediate  attack. 
His  enemies  declare  that  he  was  afraid  lest  Yaudreuil 
should  arrive  and  take  command ;  but  the  Governor  was 
not  a  man  to  assume  responsibility  at  such  a  crisis. 
Others  say  that  his  impetuosity  overcame  his  better  judg- 
ment ;  and  of  this  charge  it  is  hard  to  acquit  him.  Bou- 
gainville was  but  a  few  miles  distant,  and  some  of  his 
troops  were  much  nearer;  a  messenger  sent  by  way  of 
Old  Lorette  could  have  reached  him  in  an  hour  and  a  half 
at  most,  and  a  combined  attack  in  front  and  rear  might 
have  been  concerted  with  him.  If,  moreover,  Montcalm 
could  have  come  to  an  understanding  with  Vaudreuil,  his 
own  force  might  have  been  strengthened  by  two  or  three 
thousand  additional  men  from  the  town  and  the  camp  of 
Beauport ;  but  he  felt  that  there  was  no  time  to  lose,  for 
he  imagined  that  Wolfe  would  soon  be  reinforced,  which 
was  impossible,  and  he  believed  that  the  English  were 
fortifying  themselves,  which  was  no  less  an  error.  He 
has  been  blamed,  not  only  for  fighting  too  soon,  but  for 
fighting  at  all.  In  this  he  could  not  choose.  Fight  he 
must,  for  Wolfe  was  now  in  a  position  to  cut  off  all  his 
supplies.  His  men  were  full  of  ardor,  and  he  resolved  to 
attack  before  their  ardor  cooled.  He  spoke  a  few  words 
to  them  in  his  keen,  vehement  way.  "  I  remember  very 
well  how  he  looked,"  one  of  the  Canadians,  then  a  boy  of 
eighteen,  used  to  say  in  his  old  age  ;  "  he  rode  a  black  or 
dark  bay  horse  along  the  front  of  our  lines,  brandishing 


PAEKMAN.  95 

his  sword,  as  if  to  excite  us  to  do  our  duty.  He  wore  a 
coat  with  wide  sleeves,  which  fell  back  as  he  raised  his 
arm,  and  showed  the  white  linen  of  the  wristband." 

The  English  waited  the  result  with  a  composure  which, 
if  not  quite  real,  was  at  least  well  feigned.  The  three 
field-pieces  sent  by  Ramesay  plied  them  with  canister- 
shot,  and  fifteen  hundred  Canadians  and  Indians  fusil- 
laded them  in  front  and  flank.  Over  all  the  plain,  from 
behind  bushes  and  knolls  and  the  edge  of  cornfields,  puffs 
of  smoke  sprang  incessantly  from  the  guns  of  these  hid- 
den marksmen.  Skirmishers  were  thrown  out  before  the 
lines  to  hold  them  in  check,  and  the  soldiers  were  ordered 
to  lie  on  the  grass  to  avoid  the  shot.  The  firing  was 
liveliest  on  the  English  left,  where  bands  of  sharpshooters 
got  under  the  edge  of  the  declivity,  among  thickets 
and  behind  scattered  houses,  whence  they  killed  and 
wounded  a  considerable  number  of  Townshend's  men. 
The  light  infantry  were  called  up  from  the  rear.  The 
houses  were  taken  and  retaken,  and  one  or  more  of  them 
was  burned. 

vWolfe  was  everywhere.  How  cool  he  was,  and  why  his 
followers  loved  him,  is  shown  by  an  incident  that  hap- 
pened in  the  course  of  the  morning.  One  of  his  captains 
was  shot  through  the  lungs  ;  and  on  recovering  conscious- 
ness he  saw  the  General  standing  at  his  side.  Wolfe 
pressed  his  hand,  told  him  not  to  despair,  praised  his 
services,  promised  him  early  promotion,  and  sent  an  aide- 
de-camp  to  Monckton  to  beg  that  officer  to  keep  the  prom- 
ise if  he  himself  should  fall. 

It  was  towards  ten  o'clock  when,  from  the  high  ground 
on  the  right  of  the  line,  Wolfe  saw  that  the  crisis  was 
near.  *The  French  on  the  ridge  had  formed  themselves 
into  three  bodies,  regulars  in  the  centre,  regulars  and 
Canadians  on  right  and  left.  Two  field-pieces,  which  had 
been  dragged  up  the  heights  at  Anse  du  Foulon,  fired  on 


96  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

them  with  grape-shot,  and  the   troops,  rising   from  the 
ground,  prepared  to  receive  them.     In  a  few  moments 
more  they  were  in  motion.     They  came  on  rapidly,  utter- 
ing loud  shouts,  and  firing  as  soon  as  they  were  within 
range.     Their  ranks,  ill  ordered  at  the  best,  were  further 
confused  by  a  number  of  Canadians  who  had  been  mixed 
among  the  regulars,  and  who,  after  hastily  firing,  threw 
themselves  on  the  ground  to  reload.     The   British   ad- 
vanced a  few  rods ;  then  halted  and  stood  still.     When 
the  French  were  within  forty  paces  the  word  of  command 
rang  out,  and  a  crash  of  musketry  answered  all  along  the 
line.     The  volley  was  delivered  with  remarkable  precision. 
In  the  battalions  of  the  centre,  which  had  suffered  least 
from  the  enemy's  bullets,  the  simultaneous  explosion  was 
afterwards  said  by  French  officers  to  have  sounded  like  a 
cannon-shot.     Another  volley  followed,  and  then  a  furious 
clattering  fire  that  lasted  but  a  minute  or  two.     When  the 
smoke  rose,  a  miserable  sight  was  revealed :  the  ground 
cumbered  with  dead  and  wounded,  the  advancing  masses 
stopped  short  and  turned  into  a  frantic  mob,  shouting, 
cursing,  gesticulating.     The  order  was  given  to  charge. 
Then  over  the  field  rose  the  British  cheer,  mixed  with  the 
fierce  yell  of  the  Highland  slogan.     Some  of  the  corps 
pushed  forward  with  the  bayonet ;  some  advanced  firing. 
The  clansmen  drew  their   broadswords  and  dashed  on, 
keen  and  swift  as  bloodhounds.     At  the  English  right, 
though  the  attacking  column  was  broken  to  pieces,  a  fire 
was  still  kept  up,  chiefly,  it  seems,  by  sharpshooters  from 
the  bushes  and  cornfields,  where  they  had  lain  for  an  hour 
or  more.     Here-Wolfe  himself  led  the  charge,vat  the  head 
of  the  Louisbourg  grenadiers.   ^A  shot  shattered  his  wrist. 
He   wrapped    his   handkerchief   about   it   and   kept  on. 
Another  shot  struck  him,  and  he  still  advanced,  when  a 
third  lodged  in  his  breast.     He  staggered,  and  sat  on  the 
ground.     Lieutenant  Brown,  of  the  grenadiers,  one  Hen- 


PARKMAN.  97 

derson,  a  volunteer  in  the  same  company,  and  a  private 
soldier,  aided  by  an  officer  of  artillery  who  ran  to  join 
them,  carried  him  in  their  arms  to  the  rear.  He  begged 
them  to  lay  him  down.  They  did  so,  and  asked  if  he 
would  have  a  surgeon.  "  There  's  no  need,"  he  answered; 
"  it 's  all  over  with  me."  A  moment  after,  one  of  them 
cried  out :  "  They  run ;  see  how  they  run ! "  "  Who  run  ?  " 
Wolfe  demanded,  like  a  man  roused  from  sleep.  "  The 
enemy,  sir.  Egad,  they  give  way  everywhere !  "  "  Go, 
one  of  you,  to  Colonel  Burton,"  returned  the  dying  man  ; 
"  tell  him  to  march  Webb's  regiment  down  to  Charles 
River,  to  cut  off  their  retreat  from  the  bridge."  Then, 
turning  on  his  side,  he  murmured,  "  Now,  God  be  praised, 
I  will  die  in  peace !  "  and  in  a  few  moments  his  gallant 
soul  had  fled. 

Montcalm,  still  on  horseback,  was  borne  with  the  tide 
of  fugitives  towards  the  town.  As  he  approached  the 
walls,  a  shot  passed  through  his  body.  He  kept  his  seat ; 
two  soldiers  supported  him,  one  on  each  side,  and  led  his 
horse  through  the  St.  Louis  Gate.  On  the  open  space 
within,  among  the  excited  crowd,  were  several  women, 
drawn,  no  doubt,  by  eagerness  to  know  the  result  of  the 
fight.  One  of  them  recognized  him,  saw  the  streaming 
blood,  and  shrieked,  "  0  mon  Dieu!  mon  Dieu!  le  Mar- 
quis est  tuS  !  "  "  It 's  nothing,  it 's  nothing,"  replied  the 
death-stricken  man ;  "  don't  be  troubled  for  me,  my  good1* 
friends "  ( "  Ce  n'est  rien,  ce  n'est  rien  ;  ne  vous  affligez 
pas  pour  moi,  mes  bonnes  amies  ").  —  From  "Montcalm 
and  Wolfe"  vol.  ii.  chap,  xxvii. 

NOTE. — There  are  several  contemporary  versions  of  the  dying  words 
of  Wolfe.  The  report  of  Knox,  given  above,  is  by  far  the  best  attested. 
Knox  says  that  he  took  particular  pains  at  the  time  to  learn  them 
accurately  from  those  who  were  with  Wolfe  when  they  were  uttered. 

The  anecdote  of  Montcalm  is  due  to  the  late  Hon.  Malcolm  Fraser,  of 
Quebec.  He  often  heard  it  in  his  youth  from  an  old  woman,  who,  when 
a  girl,  was  one  of  the  group  who  saw  the  wounded  general  led  by,  and  to 
whom  the  words  were  addressed. 

7 


KESULTS  OF  THE  SEVEN  YEAES  WAR. 


"  HpHIS,"  said  Earl  Granville  on  his  death-bed,  "  has 
been  the  most  glorious  war  and  the  most  trium- 
phant peace  that  England  ever  knew."  Not  all  were  so 
well  pleased,  and  many  held,  with  Pitt,  that  the  House  of 
Bourbon  should  have  been  forced  to  drain  the  cup  of 
humiliation  to  the  dregs.  Yet  the  fact  remains  that  the 
Peace  of  Paris  marks  an  epoch  than  which  none  in  modern 
history  is  more  fruitful  of  grand  results.  With  it  began  a 
new  chapter  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  To  borrow  the 
words  of  a  late  eminent  writer,  "  It  is  no  exaggeration  to 
say  that  three  of  the  many  victories  of  the  Seven  Years 
War  determined  for  ages  to  come  the  destinies  of  man- 
kind. With  that  of  Rossbach  began  the  re-creation  of 
Germany  ;  with  that  of  Plassey  the  influence  of  Eu- 
rope told  for  the  first  time  since  the  days  of  Alexander 
on  the  nations  of  the  East ;  with  the  triumph  of  Wolfe 
on  the  Heights  of  Abraham  began  the  history  of  the 
United  States."  —  From  "  Montcalm  and  Wolfe"  vol.  ii. 
chap,  xxxii. 


THE   INDIAN   CHARACTER. 


the  Indian  character,  much  has  been  written  fool- 
ishly,  and  credulously  believed.  By  the  rhapsodies 
of  poets,  the  cant  of  sentimentalists,  and  the  extravagance 
of  some  who  should  have  known  better,  a  counterfeit 
image  has  been  tricked  out,  which  might  seek  in  vain  for 
its  likeness  through  every  corner  of  the  habitable  earth, 
—  an  image  bearing  no  more  resemblance  to  its  original 
than  the  monarch  of  the  tragedy  and  the  hero  of  the  epic 
poem  bear  to  their  living  prototypes  in  the  palace  and  the 
camp.  The  shadows  of  his  wilderness  home,  and  the 
darker  mantle  of  his  own  inscrutable  reserve,  have  made 
the  Indian  warrior  a  wonder  and  a  mystery.  Yet  to  the 
eye  of  rational  observation  there  is  nothing  unintelligible 
in  him.  He  is  full,  it  is  true,  of  contradiction.  He  deems 
himself  the  centre  of  greatness  and  renown  ;  his  pride  is 
proof  against  the  fiercest  torments  of  fire  and  steel ;  and 
yet  the  same  man  would  beg  for  a  dram  of  whiskey,  or  pick 
up  a  crust  of  bread  thrown  to  him  like  a  dog  from  the 
tent-door  of  the  traveller.  At  one  moment  he  is  wary 
and  cautious  to  the  verge  of  cowardice  ;  at  the  next,  he 
abandons  himself  to  a  very  insanity  of  recklessness ;  and 
the  habitual  self-restraint  which  throws  an  impenetrable 
veil  over  emotion  is  joined  to  the  unbridled  passions  of  a 
madman  or  a  beast. 

Such  inconsistencies,  strange  as  they  seem  in  our  eyes, 
when  viewed  under  a  novel  aspect,  are  but  the  ordinary 
incidents  of  humanity.  The  qualities  of  the  mind  are  not 


102  LEAFLETS    FROM    STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

uniform  in  their  action  through  all  the  relations  of  life. 
With  different  men,  and  different  races  of  men,  pride, 
valor,  prudence,  have  different  forms  of  manifestation; 
and  where  in  one  instance  they  lie  dormant,  in  another 
they  are  keenly  awake.  The  conjunction  of  greatness 
and  littleness,  meanness  and  pride,  is  older  than  the  days 
of  the  patriarchs ;  and  such  antiquated  phenomena,  dis- 
played under  a  new  form  in  the  unreflecting,  undisciplined 
mind  of  a  savage,  call  for  no  special  wonder,  but  should 
rather  be  classed  with  the  other  enigmas  of  the  fathom- 
less human  heart.  The  dissecting-knife  of  a  Rochefou- 
cault  might  lay  bare  matters  of  no  less  curious  obser- 
vation in  the  breast  of  every  man. 

Nature  has  stamped  the  Indian  with  a  hard  and  stern 
physiognomy.  Ambition,  revenge,  envy,  jealousy,  are  his 
ruling  passions  ;  and  his  cold  temperament  is  little  ex- 
posed to  those  effeminate  vices  which  are  the  bane  of 
milder  races.  With  him  revenge  is  an  overpowering  inr 
stinct ;  nay,  more,  it  is  a  point  of  honor  and  a  duty.  His 
pride  sets  all  language  at  defiance.  He  loathes  the 
thought  of  coercion :  and  few  of  his  race  have  ever 
stooped  to  discharge  a  menial  office.  A  wild  love  of  lib- 
erty, an  utter  intolerance  of  control,  lie  at  the  basis  of  his 
character,  and  fire  his  whole  existence.  Yet.  in  spite  of 
this  haughty  independence,  he  is  a  devout  hero-worship- 
per ;  and  high  achievement  in  war  or  policy  touches  a 
chord  to  which  his  nature  never  fails  to  respond.  He 
looks  up  with  admiring  reverence  to  the  sages  and  heroes 
of  his  tribe  ;  and  it  is  this  principle,  joined  to  the  respect 
for  age  springing  from  the  patriarchal  element  in  his 
social  system,  which,  beyond  all  others,  contributes  union 
and  harmony  to  the  erratic  members  of  an  Indian  com- 
munity. With  him  the  love  of  glory  kindles  into  a  burn- 
ing passion ;  and  to  allay  its  cravings  he  will  dare  cold 
and  famine,  fire,  tempest,  torture,  and  death  itself. 


PARKMAN.  103 

These  generous  traits  are  overcast  by  much  that  is  dark, 
cold,  and  sinister,  by  sleepless  distrust  and  rankling  jeal- 
ousy. Treacherous  himself,  he  is  always  suspicious  of 
treachery  in  others.  Brave  as  he  is,  —  and  few  of  man- 
kind are  braver,  —  he  will  vent  his  passion  by  a  secret 
stab  rather  than  an  open  blow.  His  warfare  is  full  of 
ambuscade  and  stratagem ;  and  he  never  rushes  into 
battle  with  that  joyous  self-abandonment  with  which  the 
warriors  of  the  Gothic  races  flung  themselves  into  the 
ranks  of  their  enemies.  In  his  feasts  and  his  drinking 
bouts  we  find  none  of  that  robust  and  full-toned  mirth 
which  reigned  at  the  rude  carousals  of  our  barbaric  ances- 
try. He  is  never  jovial  in  his  cups,  and  maudlin  sorrow 
or  maniacal  rage  is  the  sole  result  of  his  potations. 

Over  all  emotion  he  throws  the  veil  of  an  iron  self-con- 
trol, originating  in  a  peculiar  form  of  pride,  and  fostered 
by  rigorous  discipline  from  childhood  upward.  He  is 
trained  to  conceal  passion,  and  not  to  subdue  it.  The  in- 
scrutable warrior  is  aptly  imaged  by  the  hackneyed  figure 
of  a  volcano  covered  with  snow;  and  no  man  can  say 
when  or  where  the  wild-fire  will  burst  forth.  This  shal- 
low self-mastery  serves  to  give  dignity  to  public  delibera- 
tion, and  harmony  to  social  life.  Wrangling  and  quarrel 
are  strangers  to  an  Indian  dwelling;" and  while  an  assem- 
bly of  the  ancient  Gauls  was  garrulous  as  a  convocation 
of  magpies,  a  Roman  senate  might  have  taken  a  lesson 
from  the  grave  solemnity  of  an  Indian  council.  In  the 
midst  of  his  family  and  friends  he  hides  affections,  by 
nature  none  of  the  most  tender,  under  a  mask  of  icy  cold- 
ness ;  and  in  the  torturing  fires  of  his  enemy,  the  haughty 
sufferer  maintains  to  the  last  his  look  of  grim  defiance. 

His  intellect  is  as  peculiar  as  his  moral  organization. 
Among  all  savages,  the  powers  of  perception  preponder- 
ate over  those  of  reason  and  analysis ;  but  this  is  more 
especially  the  case  with  the  Indian.  An  acute  judge  of 


104  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

character,  at  least  of  such  parts  of  it  as  his  experience 
enables  him  to  comprehend,  keen  to  a  proverb  in  all 
exercises  of  war  and  the  chase,  he  seldom  traces  effects 
to  their  causes,  or  follows  out  actions  to  their  remote 
results.  Though  a  close  observer  of  external  Nature,  he 
no  sooner  attempts  to  account  for  her  phenomena  than 
he  involves  himself  in  the  most  ridiculous  absurdities  ; 
and  quite  content  with  these  puerilities,  he  has  not  the 
least  desire  to  push  his  inquiries  further.  His  curiosity, 
abundantly  active  within  its  own  narrow  circle,  is  dead  to 
all  things  else  ;  and  to  attempt  rousing  it  from  its  torpor 
is  but  a  bootless  task.  He  seldom  takes  cognizance  of 
general  or  abstract  ideas ;  and  his  language  has  scarcely 
the  power  to  express  them,  except  through  the  medium 
of  figures  drawn  from  the  external  world,  and  often 
highly  picturesque  and  forcible.  The  absence  of  reflec- 
tion makes  him  grossly  improvident,  and  unfits  him  for 
pursuing  any  complicated  scheme  of  war  or  policy. 

Some  races  of  men  seem  moulded  in  wax,  soft  and 
melting,  at  once  plastic  and  feeble.  Some  races,  like 
some  metals,  combine  the  greatest  flexibility  with  the 
greatest  strength.  But  the  Indian  is  hewn  out  of  a  rock. 
You  can  rarely  change  the  form  without  destruction  of 
the  substance.  Races  of  inferior  energy  have  possessed  a 
power  of  expansion  and  assimilation  to  which  he  is  a 
stranger;  and  it  is  this  fixed  and  rigid  quality  which  has 
pjoved  his  ruin.  He  will  not  learn  the  arts  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  he  and  his  forest  must  perish  together.  The 
stern,  unchanging  features  of  his  mind  excite  our  admira- 
tion from  their  very  immutability ;  and  we  look  with  deep 
interest  on  the  fate  of  this  irreclaimable  son  of  the  wilder- 
ness, the  child  who  will  not  be  weaned  from  the  breast  of 
his  rugged  mother.  And  our  interest  increases  when  we 
discern  in  the  unhappy  wanderer  the  germs  of  heroic 
virtues  mingled  among  his  vices, —  a  hand  bountiful  to 


PARKMAN.  105 

bestow  as  it  is  rapacious  to  seize,  and  even  in  extremest 
famine  imparting  its  last  morsel  to  a  fellow-sufferer ;  a 
heart  which,  strong  in  friendship  as  in  hate,  thinks  it  not 
too  much  to  lay  down  life  for  its  chosen  comrade  ;  a  soul 
true  to  its  own  idea  of  honor,  and  burning  with  an  un- 
quenchable thirst  for  greatness  and  renown. 

The  imprisoned  lion  in  the  showman's  cage  differs  not 
more  widely  from  the  lord  of  the  desert  than  the  beg- 
garly frequenter  of  frontier  garrisons  and  dramshops 
differs  from  the  proud  denizen  of  the  woods.  It  is  in  his 
native  wilds  alone  that  the  Indian  must  be  seen  and 
studied.  Thus  to  depict  him  is  the  aim  of  the  ensuing 
History ;  and  if,  from  the  shades  of  rock  and  forest,  the 
savage  features  should  look  too  grimly  forth,  it  is  because 
the  clouds  of  a  tempestuous  war  have  cast  upon  the  pic- 
ture their  murky  shadows  and  lurid  fires.  —  From  "  The 
Conspiracy  of  Pontiac"  vol.  i.  chap.  i. 


DEATH   OF  PONTIAC. 


HPHE  winter  passed  quietly  away.  Already  the  In- 
*-  dians  began  to  feel  the  blessings  of  returning  peace 
in  the  partial  reopening  of  the  fur-trade  ;  and  the  famine 
and  nakedness,  the  misery  and  death,  which  through  the 
previous  season  had  been  rife  in  their  encampments,  were 
exchanged  for  comparative  comfort  and  abundance.  With 
many  precautions,  and  in  meagre  allowances,  the  traders 
had  been  permitted  to  throw  their  goods  into  the  Indian 
markets  ;  and  the  starving  hunters  were  no  longer  left, 
as  many  of  them  had  been,  to  gain  precarious  sustenance 
by 'the  bow,  the  arrow,  and  the  lance,  —  the  half-forgot- 
ten weapons  of  their  fathers.  Some  troubles  arose  along 
the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  The  reckless 
borderers,  in  contempt  of  common  humanity  and  pru- 
dence, murdered  several  straggling  Indians,  and  enraged 
others  by  abuse  and  insult;  but  these  outrages  could  not 
obliterate  the  remembrance  of  recent  chastisement,  and, 
for  the  present  at  least,  the  injured  warriors  forbore  to 
draw  down  the  fresh  vengeance  of  their  destroyers. 

Spring  returned,  and  Pontiac  remembered  the  promise 
he  had  made  to  visit  Sir  William  Johnson  at  Oswego. 
He  left  his  encampment  on  the  Maumee,  accompanied  by 
his  chiefs  and  by  an  Englishman  named  Crawford,  a  man 
of  vigor  and  resolution,  who  had  been  appointed  byihe 
superintendent  to  the  troublesome  office  of  attending  the 
Indian  deputation  and  supplying  their  wants. 


108  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

We  may  well  imagine  with  what  bitterness  of  mood  the 
defeated  war-chief  urged  his  canoe  along  the  margin  of 
Lake  Erie,  and  gazed  upon  the  horizon-bounded  waters, 
and  the  lofty  shores,  green  with  primeval  verdure.  Little 
could  he  have  dreamed,  and  little  could  the  wisest  of  that 
day  have  imagined,  that,  within  the  space  of  a  single 
human  life,  that  lonely  lake  would  be  studded  with  the 
sails  of  commerce;  that  cities  and  villages  would  rise 
upon  the  ruins  of  the  forest ;  and  that  the  poor  memen- 
toes of  his  lost  race  —  the  wampum  beads,  the  rusty 
tomahawk,  and  the  arrowhead  of  stone,  turned  up  by  the 
ploughshare — would  become  the  wonder  of  school-boys, 
and  the  prized  relics  of  the  antiquary's  cabinet.  Yet  it 
needed  no  prophetic  eye  to  foresee  that,  sooner  or  later, 
the  doom  must  come.  The  star  of  his  people's  destiny 
was  fading  from  the  sky ;  and,  to  a  mind  like  his,  the 
black  and  withering  future  must  have  stood  revealed  in 
all  its  desolation. 

The  birchen  flotilla  gained  the  outlet  of  Lake  Erie, 
and,  shooting  downwards  with  the  stream,  landed  be- 
neath the  palisades  of  Fort  Schlosser.  The  chiefs  passed 
the  portage,  and,  once  more  embarking,  pushed  out  upon 
Lake  Ontario.  Soon  their  goal  was  reached,  and  the 
cannon  boomed  hollow  salutation  from  the  batteries  of 
Oswego. 

Here  they  found  Sir  William  Johnson  waiting  to  re- 
ceive them,  attended  by  the  chief  sachems  of  the  Iro- 
quois,  whom  he  had  invited  to  the  spot,  that  their  presence 
might  give  additional  weight  and  solemnity  to  the  meet- 
ing. As  there  was  no  building  large  enough  to  receive 
so  numerous  a  concourse,  a  canopy  of  green  boughs  was 
erected  to  shade  the  assembly  from  the  sun ;  and  thither, 
on  the  twenty-third  of  July,  repaired  the  chiefs  and  war- 
riors of  the  several  nations.  Here  stood  the  tall  figure 
of  Sir  William  Johnson,  surrounded  by  civil  and  military 


PARKMAN.  109 

officers,  clerks,  and  interpreters  ;  while  before  him  re- 
clined the  painted  sachems  of  the  Iroquois,  and  the  great 
Ottawa  war-chief,  with  his  dejected  followers. 

Johnson  opened  the  meeting  with  the  usual  formalities, 
presenting  his  auditors  with  a  belt  of  wampum  to  wipe 
the  tears  from  their  eyes,  with  another  to  cover  the  bones 
of  their  relatives,  another  to  open  their  ears  that  they 
might  hear,  and  another  to  clear  their  throats  that  they 
might  speak  with  ease.  Then,  amid  solemn  silence, 
Pontiac's  great  peace-pipe  was  lighted  and  passed  round 
the  assembly,  each  man  present  inhaling  a  whiff  of  the 
sacred  smoke.  These  tedious  forms,  together  with  a  few 
speeches  of  compliment,  consumed  the  whole  morning  ; 
for  this  savage  people,  on  whose  supposed  simplicity  poets 
and  rhetoricians  have  lavished  their  praises,  may  chal- 
lenge the  world  to  outmatch  their  bigoted  adherence  to 
usage  and  ceremonial. 

On  the  following  day  the  council  began  in  earnest, 
and  Sir  William  Johnson  addressed  Pontiac  and  his 
attendant  chiefs  :  — 

"  Children,  I  bid  you  heartily  welcome  to  this  place  ; 
and  I  trust  that  the  Great  Spirit  will  permit  us  often  to 
meet  together  in  friendship,  for  I  have  now  opened  the 
door  and  cleared  the  road,  that  all  nations  may  come 
hither  from  the  sun-setting.  This  belt  of  wampum  con- 
firms my  words. 

"  Children,  it  gave  me  much  pleasure  to  find  that  you 
who  are  present  behaved  so  well  last  year,  and  treated  in 
so  friendly  a  manner  Mr.  Croghan,  one  of  my  deputies  ; 
and  that  you  expressed  such  concern  for  the  bad  behavior 
of  those  who,  in  order  to  obstruct  the  good  work  of 
peace,  assaulted  and  wounded  him,  and  killed  some  of 
his  party,  both  whites  and  Indians,  —  a  thing  before  un- 
known, and  contrary  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  all 
nations.  This  would  have  drawn  down  our  strongest 


110  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

resentment  upon  those  who  were  guilty  of  so  heinous  a 
crime,  were  it  not  for  the  great  lenity  and  kindness  of 
your  English  father,  who  does  not  delight  in  punishing 
those  who  repent  sincerely  of  their  faults. 

"Children,!  have  now, with  the  approbation  of  General 
Gage  (your  father's  chief  warrior  in  this  country),  in- 
vited you  here  in  order  co  confirm  and  strengthen  your 
proceedings  with  Mr.  Croghan  last  year.  1  hope  that  you 
will  remember  all  that  then  passed,  and  1  desire  that  you 
will  often  repeat  it  to  your  young  people,  and  keep  it 
fresh  in  your  minds. 

"  Children,  you  begin  already  to  see  the  fruits  of  peace, 
from  the  number  of  traders  and  plenty  of  goods  at  all  the 
garrisoned  posts  ;  and  our  enjoying  the  peaceable  posses- 
sion of  the  Illinois  will  be  found  of  great  advantage  to  the 
Indians  in  that  country.  You  likewise  see  that  proper 
officers,  men  of  honor  and  probity,  are  appointed  to  reside 
at  the  posts,  to  prevent  abuses  in  trade,  to  hear  your  com- 
plaints, and  to  lay  before  me  such  of  them  as  they  cannot 
redress.  Interpreters  are  likewise  sent  for  the  assistance 
of  each  of  them  ;  and  smiths  are  sent  to  the  posts  to  re- 
pair your  arms  and  implements.  All  this,  which  is  at- 
tended with  a  great  expense,  is  now  done  by  the  great 
King,  your  father,  as  a  proof  of  his  regard  ;  so  that,  cast- 
ing from  you  all  jealousy  and  apprehension,  you  should 
now  strive  with  each  other  who  should  show  the  most 
gratitude  to  this  best  of  princes.  I  do  now,  therefore, 
confirm  the  assurances  which  1  give  you  of  his  Majesty's 
good  will,  and  do  insist  on  your  casting  away  all  evil 
thoughts,  and  shutting  your  ears  against  all  flying  idle 
reports  of  bad  people." 

The  rest  of  Johnson's  speech  was  occupied  in  explain- 
ing to  his  hearers  the  new  arrangements  for  the  regula- 
tion of  the  fur-trade  ;  in  exhorting  them  to  forbear  from 
retaliating  the  injuries  they  might  receive  from  reckless 


PARKMAN.  Ill 

white  men,  who  would  meet  with  due  punishment  from 
their  own  countrymen  ;  and  in  urging  them  to  deliver  up 
to  justice  those  of  their  people  who  might  be  guilty  of 
crimes  against  the  English.  "  Children,"  he  concluded, 
"  I  now,  by  this  belt,  turn  your  eyes  to  the  sun-rising, 
where  you  will  always  find  me  your  sincere  friend.  From 
me  you  will  always  hear  what  is  true  and  good  ;  and  I 
charge  you  never  more  to  listen  to  those  evil  birds,  who 
come,  with  lying  tongues,  to  lead  you  astray,  and  to  make 
you  break  the  solemn  engagements  which  you  have  entered 
into,  in  presence  of  the  Great  Spirit,  with  the  King  your 
father  and  the  English  people.  Be  strong,  then,  and  keep 
fast  hold  of  the  chain  of  friendship,  that  your  children, 
following  your  example,  may  live  happy  and  prosperous 
lives." 

Pontiac  made  a  brief  reply,  and  promised  to  return 
on  the  morrow  an  answer  in  full.  The  meeting  then 
broke  up. 

The  council  of  the  next  day  was  opened  by  the  Wyan- 
dot  chief  Teata  in  a  short  and  formal  address,  at  the 
conclusion  of  which  Pontiac  himself  arose,  and  addressed 
the  superintendent  in  words  of  which  the  following  is  a 
translation :  - 

"  Father,  we  thank  the  Great  Spirit  for  giving  us  so 
fine  a  day  to  meet  upon  such  great  affairs.  1  speak  in 
the  name  of  all  the  nations  to  the  westward,  of  whom  I 
am  the  master.  It  is  the  will  of  the  Great  Spirit  that  we 
should  meet  here  to-day  ;  and  before  him  I  now  take  you 
by  the  hand.  I  call  him  to  witness  that  I  speak  from  my 
heart;  for  since  I  took  Colonel  Croghan  by  the  hand  last 
year,  I  have  never  let  go  my  hold,  for  I  see  that  the  Great 
Spirit  will  have  us  friends. 

u  Father,  when  our  great  father  of  France  was  in  this 
country,  1  held  him  fast  by  the  hand.  Now  that  he  is 
gone,  I  take  you,  my  English  father,  by  the  hand,  in  the 


112  LEAFLETS   PROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

name  of  all  the  nations,  and  promise  to  keep  this  covenant 
as  long  as  I  shall  live." 

Here  he  delivered  a  large  belt  of  wampum. 

"  Father,  when  you  address  me,  it  is  the  same  as  if  you 
addressed  all  the  nations  of  the  west.  Father,  this  belt 
is  to  cover  and  strengthen  our  chain  of  friendship,  and  to 
show  you  that,  if  any  nation  shall  lift  the  hatchet  against 
our  English  brethren,  we  shall  be  the  first  to  feel  it  and 
resent  it." 

Pontiac  next  took  up  in  succession  the  various  points 
touched  upon  in  the  speech  of  the  superintendent,  expres- 
sing in  all  things  a  full  compliance  with  his  wishes.  The 
succeeding  days  of  the  conference  were  occupied  with 
matters  of  detail  relating  chiefly  to  the  fur-trade,  all  of 
which  were  adjusted  to  the  apparent  satisfaction  of  the 
Indians,  who,  on  their  part,  made  reiterated  professions 
of  friendship.  Pontiac  promised  to  recall  the  war-belts 
which  had  been  sent  to  the  north  and  west,  though,  as  he 
alleged,  many  of  them  had  proceeded  from  the  Senecas, 
and  not  from  him  ;  adding  that,  when  all  were  gathered 
together,  they  would  be  more  than  a  man  could  carry. 
The  Iroquois  sachems  then  addressed  the  western  na- 
tions, exhorting  them  to  stand  true  to  their  engagements, 
and  hold  fast  the  chain  of  friendship ;  and  the  councils 
closed  on  the  thirty-first,  with  a  bountiful  distribution  of 
presents  to  Pontiac  and  his  followers. 

Thus  ended  this  memorable  meeting,  in  which  Pontiac 
sealed  his  submission  to  the  English,  and  renounced  for- 
ever the  bold  design  by  which  he  had  trusted  to  avert  or 
retard  the  ruin  of  his  race.  His  hope  of  seeing  the  em- 
pire of  France  restored  in  America  was  scattered  to  the 
winds,  and  with  it  vanished  'every  rational  scheme  of  re- 
sistance to  English  encroachment.  Nothing  now  remained 
but  to  stand  an  idle  spectator  while,  in  the  north  and  in 
the  south,  the  tide  of  British  power  rolled  westward  in  re- 


PARKMAN.  113 

sistlcss  might ;  while  the  fragments  of  the  rival  empire, 
which  he  would  fain  have  set  up  as  a  barrier  against  the 
flood,  lay  scattered  a  miserable  wreck  ;  and  while  the 
remnant  of  his  people  melted  away  or  fled  for  refuge  to 
remoter. deserts.  For  them  the  prospects  of  the  future 
were  as  clear  as  they  were  calamitous.  Destruction  or 
civilization,  —  between  these  lay  their  choice  ;  and  few 
who  knew  them  could  doubt  which  alternative  they 
would  embrace. 

Pontiac,  his  canoe  laden  with  the  gifts  of  his  enemy, 
steered  homeward  for  the  Maumee  ;  and  in  this  vicinity 
he  spent  the  following  winter,  pitching  his  lodge  in  the 
forest  with  his  wives  and  children,  and  hunting-  like  an 
ordinary  warrior.  With  the  succeeding  spring,  1767, 
fresh  murmurings  of  discontent  arose  among  the  Indian 
tribes,  from  the  Lakes  to  the  Potomac,  the  first  precursors 
of  the  disorders  which,  a  few  years  later,  ripened  into  a 
brief  but  bloody  war  along  the  borders  of  Virginia.  These 
threatening  symptoms  might  easily  be  traced  to  their 
source.  The  incorrigible  frontiersmen  had  again  let  loose 
their  murdering  propensities;  and  a  multitude  of  squat- 
ters had  built  their  cabins  on  Indian  lands  beyond  the 
limits  of  Pennsylvania,  adding  insult  to  aggression,  and 
sparing  neither  oaths,  curses,  nor  any  form  of  abuse  and 
maltreatment  against  the  rightful  owners  of  the  soil. 
The  new  regulations  of  the  fur-trade  could  not  prevent 
disorders  among  the  reckless  men  engaged  in  it.  This  was 
particularly  the  case  in  the  region  of  the  Illinois,  where 
the  evil  was  aggravated  by  the  renewed  intrigues  of  the 
French,  and  especially  of  those  who  had  fled  from  the 
English  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  made  their  abode 
around  the  new  settlement  of  St.  Louis.  It  is  difficult 
to  say  how  far  Pontiac  was  involved  in  this  agita- 
tion. It  is  certain  that  some  of  the  English  traders 
regarded  him  with  jealousy  and  fear,  as  prime  mover  of 

8 


114  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD   AUTHORS. 

the  whole,  and  eagerly  watched  an  opportunity  to  destroy 
him. 

The  discontent  among  the  tribes  did  not  diminish  with 
the  lapse  of  time ;  yet  for  many  months  we  can  discern 
no  truce  of  Pontiac.  Records  and  traditions  are  silent 
concerning  him.  It  is  not  until  April,  1769,  that  he 
appears  once  more  distinctly  on  the  scene.  At  about 
that  time  he  came  to  the  Illinois,  with  what  design  does 
not  appear,  though  his  movements  excited  much  uneasi- 
ness among  the  few  English  in  that  quarter.  Soon  after 
his  arrival,  he  repaired  to  St.  Louis,  to  visit  his  former 
acquaintance,  St.  Ange,  who  was  then  in  command  at 
that  post,  having  offered  his  services  to  the  Spaniards 
after  the  cession  of  Louisiana.  After  leaving  the  fort, 
Pontiac  proceeded  to  the  house  of  which  young  Pierre 
Chouteau  was  an  inmate ;  and  to  the  last  days  of  his 
protracted  life,  the  latter  could  vividly  recall  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  interview.  The  savage  chief  was  ar- 
rayed in  the  full  uniform  of  a  French  officer,  which  had 
been  presented  to  him  as  a  special  mark  of  respect  and 
favor  by  the  Marquis  of  Montcalm,  towards  the  close  of 
the  French  war,  and  which  Pontiac  never  had  the  bad 
taste  to  wear,  except  on  occasions  when  he  wished  to 
appear  with  unusual  dignity.  St.  Ange,  Chouteau,  and 
the  other  principal  inhabitants  of  the  infant  settlement, 
whom  he  visited  in  turn,  all  received  him  cordially,  and 
did  their  best  to  entertain  him  and  his  attendant  chiefs. 
He  remained  at  St.  Louis  for  two  or  three  days,  when, 
hearing  that  a  large  number  of  Indians  were  assembled 
at  Cahokia,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  that 
some  drinking  bout  or  other  social  gathering  was  in  prog- 
ress, he  told  St.  Ange  that  he  would  cross  over  to  see 
what  was  going  forward.  St.  Ange  tried  to  dissuade  him, 
and  urged  the  risk  to  which  he  would  expose  himself ; 
but  Pontiac  persisted,  boasting  that  he  was  a  match  for 


PARKMAN.  115 

the  English,  and  had  no  fear  for  his  life.  He  entered  a 
canoe  with  some  of  his  followers,  and  Chouteau  never 
saw  him  again. 

He  who,  at  the  present  day,  crosses  from  the  city  of  St. 
Louis  to  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  and  passes 
southward  through  a  forest  festooned  with  grape-vines, 
and  fragrant  with  the  scent  of  flowers,  will  soon  emerge 
upon  the  ancient  hamlet  of  Cahokia.  To  one  fresh  from 
the  busy  suburbs  of  the  American  city,  the  small  French 
houses,  scattered  in  picturesque  disorder,  the  light-hearted, 
thriftless  look  of  their  inmates,  and  the  woods  which  form 
the  background  of  the  picture,  seem  like  the  remnants  of 
an  earlier  and  simpler  world.  Strange  changes  have 
passed  around  that  spot.  Forests  have  fallen,  cities  have 
sprung  up,  and  the  lonely  wilderness  is  thronged  with 
human  life.  Nature  herself  has  taken  part  in  the  general 
transformation ;  and  the  Mississippi  has  made  a  fearful 
inroad,  robbing  from  the  luckless  Creoles  a  mile  of  rich 
meadow  and  woodland.  Yet,  in  the  midst  of  all,  this  relic 
of  the  lost  empire  of  France  has  preserved  its  essential 
features  through  the  lapse  of  a  century,  and  offers  at  this 
day  an  aspect  not  widely  different  from  that  which  met 
the  eye  of  Pontiac  when  he  and  his  chiefs  landed  on  its 
shore. 

The  place  was  full  of  Illinois  Indians  ;  such  a  scene  as 
in  our  own  time  may  often  be  met  with  in  some  squalid 
settlement  of  the  border,  where  the  vagabond  guests,  be- 
dizened with  dirty  finery,  tie  their  small  horses  in  rows 
along  the  fences,  and  stroll  idly  among  the  houses,  or 
lounge  about  the  dramshops.  A  chief  so  renowned  as 
Pontiac  could  not  remain  long  among  the  friendly  Cre- 
oles of  Cahokia  without  being  summoned  to  a  feast ;  and 
at  such  primitive  entertainment  the  whiskey-bottle  would 
not  fail  to  play  its  part.  This  was  in  truth  the  case. 
Pontiac  drank  deeply,  and,  when  the  carousal  was  over, 


116  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

strode  down  the  village  street  to  the  adjacent  woods, 
where  he  was  heard  to  sing  the  medicine  songs,  in  whose 
magic  power  he  trusted  as  the  warrant  of  success  in  all 
hig_undertakings. 

r  An  English  trader,  named  Williamson,  was  then  in 
the  village.  He  had  looked  on  the  movements  of  Pontiac 
with  a  jealousy  probably  not  diminished  by  the  visit  of 
the  chief  to  the  French  at  St.  Louis  ;  and  he  now  re- 
solved not  to  lose  so  favorable  an  opportunity  to  despatch 
him.  With  this  view,  he  gained  the  ear  of  a  strolling 
Indian  belonging  to  the  Kaskaskia  tribe  of  the  Illinois, 
bribed  him  with  a  barrel  of  liquor,  and  promised  him  a 
farther  reward  if  he  would  kill  the  chief.  The  bargain 
was  quickly  made.  When  Pontiac  entered  the  forest, 
the  assassin  stole  close  upon  his  track  ;  and,  watching 
his  moment,  glided  behind  him,  and  buried  a  tomahawk 
in  his  brain. 

The  dead  body  was  soon  discovered,  and  startled  cries 
and  wild  bowlings  announced  the  event.  The  word  was 
caught  up  from  mouth  to  mouth,  and  the  place  resounded 
with  yifernal  yells.  The  warriors  snatched  their  weapons. 
The  Illinois  took  part  with  their  guilty  countryman  ;  and 
the  few  followers  of  Pontiac,  driven  from  the  village,  fled 
to  spread  the  tidings  and  call  the  nations  to  revenge. 
Meanwhile  the  murdered  chief  lay  on  the  spot  where  he 
had  fallen,  until  St.  Ange,  mindful  of  former  friendship, 
sent  to  claim  the  body,  and  buried  it,  with  warlike  honors, 
near  his  fort  of  St.  Louis. 

Thus  basely  perished  this  champion  of  a  ruined  race. 
But  could  his  shade  have  revisited  the  scene  of  murder, 
his  savage  spirit  would  have  exulted  in  the  vengeance 
which  overwhelmed  the  abettors  of  the  crime.  Whole 
tribes  were  rooted  out  to  expiate  it.  Chiefs  and  sachems 
whose  veins  had  thrilled  with  his  eloquence,  young  war- 
riors whose  aspiring  hearts  had  caught  the  inspiration 


PARKMAN.  117 

of  his  greatness,  mustered  to  revenge  his  fate  ;  and,  from 
the  nurth  and  the  east,  their  united  bands  descended 
on  the  villages  of  the  Illinois.  Tradition  has  but  faintly 
preserved  the  memory  of  the  event  ;  and  its  only  an- 
nalists, men  who  held  the  intestine  feuds  of  the  savage 
tribes  in  no  more  account  than  the  quarrels  of  panthers 
or  wildcats,  have  left  but  a  meagre  record.  Yet  enough 
remains  to  tell  us  that  over  the  grave  of  Pontiac  more 
blood  was  poured  out  in  atonement  than  flowed  from 
the  veins  of  the  slaughtered  heroes  on  the  corpse  of 
Patroclus  ;  and  the  remnant  of  the  Illinois  who  sur- 
vived the  carnage  remained  forever  after  sunk  in  utter 
insignificance. 

Neither  mound  nor  tablet  marked  the  burial-place  of 
Pontiac.  For  a  mausoleum,  a  city  has  risen  above  the 
forest  hero ;  and  the  race  whom  he  hated  with  such  burn- 
ing rancor  trample  with  unceasing  footsteps  over  his  for- 
gotten grave.  —  From  "  The  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac"  vol. 
ii.  chap.  xxxi. 


% 


THE   BLACK   HILLS. 


AX7E  travelled  eastward  for  two  days,  and  then  the 
gloomy  ridges  of  the  Black  Hills  rose  up  before  us. 
The  village  passed  along  for  some  miles  beneath  their 
declivities,  trailing  out  to  a  great  length  over  the  arid 
prairie,  or  winding  among  small  detached  hills  of  dis- 
torted shapes.  Turning  sharply  to  the  left,  we  entered  a 
wide  defile  of  the  mountains,  down  the  bottom  of  whicli 
a  brook  came  winding,  lined  with  tall  grass  and  dense 
copses,  amid  which  were  hidden  many  beaver  dams  and 
lodges.  We  passed  along  between  two  lines  of  high  pre- 
cipices and  rocks  piled  in  disorder  one  upon  another,  with 
scarcely  a  tree,  a  bush,  or  a  clump  of  grass.  The  restless 
Indian  boys  wandered  along  their  edges  and  clambered 
up  and  down  their  rugged  sides,  and  sometimes  a  group 
of  them  would  stand  on  the  verge  of  a  cliff  and  look  down 
on  the  procession  as  it  passed  beneath.  As  we  advanced, 
the  passage  grew  more  narrow  ;  then  it  suddenly  expanded 
into  a  round  grassy  meadow,  completely  encompassed  by 
mountains ;  and  here  the  families  stopped  as  they  came 
up  in  turn,  and  the  camp  rose  like  magic. 

The  lodges  were  hardly  pitched  when,  with  their  ustinl 
precipitation,  the  Indians  set  about  accomplishing  the 
object  that  had  brought  them  there ;  that  is,  obtaining 
poles  for  their  new  lodges.  Half  the  population,  men, 
women,  and  boys,  mounted  their  horses  and  set  out  for 
the  depths  of  the  mountains.  It  was  a  strange  cavalcade, 


120        LEAFLETS  FROM  STANDARD  AUTHORS. 

as  they  rode  at  full  gallop  over  the  shingly  rocks  and  into 
the  dark  opening  of  the  defile  beyond.  We  passed  be- 
tween precipices,  sharp  and  splintering  at  the  tops,  their 
sides  beetling  over  the  defile  or  descending  in  abrupt 
declivities  bristling  with  fir-trees.  On  our  left  they  rose 
close  to  us  like  a  wall,  but  on  the  right  a  winding  brook 
with  a  narrow  strip  of  marshy  soil  intervened.  The  stream 
was  clogged  with  old  beaver-dams,  and  spread  frequently 
into  wide  pools.  There  were  thick  bushes  and  many 
dead  and  blasted  trees  along  its  course,  though  frequently 
nothing  remained  but  stumps  cut  close  to  the  ground  by 
the  beaver,  and  marked  with  the  sharp  chisel-like  teeth  of 
those  indefatigable  laborers.  Sometimes  we  dived  among 
trees,  and  then  emerged  upon  open  spots,  over  which, 
Tndian-like,  all  galloped  at  full  speed.  As  Pauline  bound- 
ed over  the  rocks  I  felt  her  saddle-girth  slipping,  and 
alighted  to  draw  it  tighter  ;  when  the  whole  cavalcade 
swept  past  me  in  a  moment,  the  women  with  their  gaudy 
ornaments  tinkling  as  they  rode,  the  men  whooping,  laugh- 
ing, and  lashing  forward  their  horses.  Two  black-tailed 
deer  bounded  away  among  the  rocks ;  Raymond  shot  at 
them  from  horseback ;  the  sharp  report  of  his  rifle  was 
answered  by  another  equally  sharp  from  the  opposing  cliffs ; 
and  then  the  echoes,  leaping  in  rapid  succession  from  side 
to  side,  died  away  rattling  far  amid  the  mountains. 

After  having  ridden  in  this  manner  six  or  eight  miles, 
the  scene  changed,  and  all  the  declivities  were  covered 
with  forests  of  tall,  slender  spruce-trees.  The  Indians 
began  to  fall  off  to  the  right  and  left,  dispersing  with 
their  hatchets  and  knives  to  cut  the  poles  which  they  had 
come  to  seek.  I  was  soon  left  almost  alone  ;  but  in  the 
stillness  of  those  lonely  mountains,  the  stroke  of  hatchets 
and  the  sound  of  voices  might  be  heard  from  far  and 
near. 

Reynal,  who  imitated  the  Indians  in  their  habits  as  well 


PARKMAN.  121 

as  the  worst  features  of  their  character,  had  killed  buffalo 
enough  to  make  a  lodge  for  himself  and  his  squaw,  and 
now  he  was  eager  to  get  the  poles  necessary  to  complete 
it.  He  asked  me  to  let  Raymond  go  with  him  and  assist 
in  the  work.  I  assented,  and  the  two  men  immediately 
entered  the  thickest  part  of  the  wood.  Having  left  my 
horse  in  Raymond's  keeping,  I  began  to  climb  the  moun- 
tain. I  was  weak  and  weary,  and  made  slow  progress, 
often  pausing  to  rest ;  but  after  an  hour  I  gained  a  height 
whence  the  little  valley  out  of  which  I  had  climbed  seemed 
like  a  deep,  dark  gulf,  though  the  inaccessible  peak  of  the 
mountain  was  still  towering  to  a  much  greater  distance 
above.  Objects  familiar  from  childhood  surrounded  me,  — 
crags  and  rocks,  a  black  and  sullen  brook  that  gurgled 
with  a  hollow  voice  deep  among  the  crevices,  a  wood  of 
mossy,  distorted  trees  and  prostrate  trunks  flung  down  by 
age  and  storms,  scattered  among  the  rocks,  or  damming 
the  foaming  waters  of  the  brook. 

Wild  as  they  were,  these  mountains  were  thickly  peo- 
'pled.  As  I  climbed  farther,  I  found  the  broad,  dusty  paths 
made  by  the  elk  as  they  filed  across  the  mountain  side. 
The  grass  on  all  the  terraces  was  trampled  down  by  deer ; 
there  were  numerous  tracks  of  wolves,  and  in  some  of  the 
rougher  and  more  precipitous  parts  of  the  ascent  I  found 
footprints  different  from  any  that  I  had  ever  seen,  and 
which  I  took  to  be  those  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  sheep. 
I  sat  down  upon  a  rock ;  there  was  a  perfect  stillness. 
No  wind  was  stirring,  and  not  even  an  insect  could  be 
heard.  I  remembered  the  danger  of  becoming  lost  in 
such  a  place,  and  fixed  my  eye  upon  one  of  the  tallest  pin- 
nacles of  the  opposite  mountain.  It  rose  sheer  upright 
from  the  woods  below,  and,  by  an  extraordinary  freak  of 
nature,  sustained  aloft  on  its  very  summit  a  large  loose 
rock.  Such  a  landmark  could  never  be  mistaken,  and 
feeling  once  more  secure,  I  began  again  to  move  forward. 


122  LEAFLETS   FROM   STANDARD    AUTHORS. 

A  white  wolf  jumped  up  from  among  some  bushes,  and 
leaped  clumsily  away ;  but  he  stopped  for  a  moment,  and 
turned  back  his  keen  eye  and  grim,  bristling  muzzle.  I 
longed  to  take  his  scalp  and  carry  it  back  with  me,  as  a 
trophy  of  the  Black  Hills  ;  but  before  I  could  fire,  he  was 
gone  among  the  rocks.  Soon  after  I  heard  a  rustling 
sound,  with  a  cracking  of  twigs  at  a  little  distance,  and 
saw  moving  above  the  tall  bushes  the  branching  antlers 
of  an  elk.  I  was  in  the  midst  of  a  hunter's  paradise. 

Such  are  the  Black  Hills  as  I  found  them  in  July ;  but 
they  wear  a  different  garb  when  winter  sets  in,  when  the 
broad  boughs  of  the  fir-trees  are  bent  to  the  ground  by  the 
load  of  snow,  and  the  dark  mountains  are  white  with  it. 
At  that  season  the  trappers,  returned  from  their  autumn 
expeditions,  often  build  their  cabins  in  the  midst  of  these 
solitudes,  and  live  in  abundance  and  luxury  on  the  game 
that  harbors  there.  I  have  heard  them  tell  how  with 
their  tawny  mistresses,  and  perhaps  a  few  young  Indian 
companions,  they  had  spent  months  in  total  seclusion. 
They  would  dig  pitfalls  and  set  traps  for  the  white 
wolves,  sables,  and  martens ;  and  though  through  the 
whole  night  the  awful  chorus  of  the  wolves  would  resound 
from  the  frozen  mountains  around  them,  yet  within  their 
massive  walls  of  logs  they  would  lie  in  careless  ease  before 
the  blazing  fire,  and  in  the  morning  shoot  the  elk  and 
deer  from  their  very  door.  —  From  "  The  Oregon  Trail" 
chap.  xvii. 


788 


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